Digimon: Twilight Chronicles
by XanGrey
Summary: Twilight Chronicles is a semioriginal story that I came up with that sort of crosses with all of the different seasons or so I've been told. It features almost all original characters as well as digimon created by me and fans. Please read and review.
1. The World of Beginnings

I don't own digimon. That's the honor bestowed upon Toei Animation and all of its affiliates. However, most of the characters in this story were created by me and thus, owned by me. I would appreciate it if you didn't rip them off. Thank you.

Digimon: Twilight Chronicles

Chapter One (The World of Beginnings)

**A world created from chaos**

**A land locked in constant wars**

**Belief is the only thing that allows this place to exist**

Kai Tenrio raced down the sidewalk. His bulky backpack bounced around as he ran, and the straps dug into his shoulder blades. He didn't care though. He had reached his destination. He breathed out happily as he reached forward to push open the door to the game shop. A tiny bell chimed overhead, announcing his arrival. He walked further into the shop as the door closed behind him. Kai's bright green eyes landed on his target and he leaned over the checkout stand. The cashier, who had his head ducked under the counter at the time, didn't seem to notice his presence. He smirked a little bit, deciding to use this situation to his advantage. He took a deep breath and lowered his head towards the counter.

"Hey Jamie!" he yelled rather loudly, causing the boy below him to jump in alarm. In his haste, he slammed his head into the bottom of the counter rather loudly before he regained enough energy to stand up straight.

"Thanks, Kai. I think you just helped me to kill off a few more brain cells." Jamie growled, rubbing the back of his head.

"Eh, I didn't think you had that many left anyways." Kai smirked.

Jamie laughed sarcastically and placed his elbows on the counter-top, propping his head on his hands. "What can I do for you today?" he asked Kai, raising his brown eyebrows up to meet his. He had long brown hair and blue eyes. He smirked as he waited for an answer.

"What? I can't come to visit my best friend in the whole entire world?" Kai asked casually, giving Jamie a tasteless smile. Jamie raised a thin eyebrow in return.

"You want to see the new cards, don't you?"

Kai nodded enthusiastically. "You said a week ago that you were getting a new shipment in today!" he reminded him. He nodded in agreement and walked out from behind the counter. He headed over towards the back storage room with Kai on his heels, eager to take a look at the new cards. Jamie climbed onto a small stepladder and reached up towards the fourth shelf, pulling out a small brown box. He dropped the box onto the floor, jumped off the ladder, and landed next to Kai. He pulled the box closer to them with his foot and looked over to Kai.

"Knock yourself out." he said, waving his hand vaguely towards the box. Kai's eyes lit up and he knelt down next to the box of cards. He tore open the box and began rummaging through the cards therein.

"Awesome!" he cried as he dropped one group of cards and picked up another.

"Aren't they? Mom said that I could have some to add to my deck in place of a paycheck." Jamie remarked, kneeling next to the teenage boy.

"Lucky you. Then again, the money would've just gone towards new cards too."

"That's what they figured, too. I don't care either way."

"How many do you get?" Kai inquired.

"Ten."

"Ten?" Kai's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Yep. I get ten o' them."

"But Jamie, you already have a HUGE deck!"

"It isn't that huge."

"How many cards do you have in your deck right now?"

"Forty-five."

"Forty-five? After you add those ten, you'll have fifty-five!"

"So you WERE paying attention in basic math." Jamie smirked.

"Yeah, but that's not the point. The point is..."

"The point is, that with these cards, I'm going to be able to beat you easily."

"That's what I'm afraid of." Kai moaned as he stood up with five cards in his hand. Jamie picked up the box and walked into the showroom with it. In there, he began placing the cards in their respective racks. "Which ones did you choose, Jamie?"

"Let's see." Jamie replied, pulling the cards out of his pocket. "I needed an extra _Hyper-Speed_ card, so that makes one. Then, I picked up _Gatling Arm, Phase Shift, Bomb Dive, Brave Shield, Phoenixmon, Matrix Digivolve, Pyro Sphere, Ice Breath, _and I also picked up this new one called _Shining Light_." Jamie laid the cards down in front of Kai as he named them off.

"Man, Jamie. You got all the rare ones." He said as he reached forward to pick them up. He was planning to simply look at them, but Jamie noticed what he was attempting and he snatched his cards back up.

"You didn't actually think that I'd let you touch them, did you?"

"Oh, c'mon, Jamie! I just want to look at them."

"You're a freshmen in high school and yet you still act like a third-grader."

"Just one look." Kai pleaded.

"No."

"Okay, okay. Then at least answer me this. What does _Shining Light_ do?"

"If a digimon is hiding somewhere, this card will find it and freeze it for one attack turn. This card will find the digimon wherever it is. It could be a water-type swimming in a marine area or a flying-type way above the clouds. Pretty useful, huh?"

"Yeah, for you." Kai growled.

"So what ones are you getting?"

"_Hyper Wing, Terra Firma, Blitz, Avenging Knight,_ and this blue card."

"A blue card?"

"Yeah."

"Lemme see it."

"If you want to see it, I'll trade you your Shining Light for it."

"No deal."

"Then sorry. Wait until your next shipment gets in then, Jamie."

"Fine. I'll trade you." Jamie sighed as he handed Kai the _Shining Light_ card.

"Nice doing business with you."

Jamie chuckled as he messed with the cash register. "Your total comes to 327 yen." Jamie replied, holding out her hand. Kai looked at her in confusion."

"327 yen? For what?"

"Hey, this is a business here. You didn't think that you'd get them for free, huh?"

"What? The cards?"

"No. Those lame drawings you keep in your bag."

"Well, I don't have any money on me right now. Can I pay you back tomorrow?"

"That's what you said the last three times. Every time you don't pay, it comes out of my check. You already owe me 1,310 yen, give or take a little bit. Pay up, moocher."

"You're one of my best friends!"

"And you're one of mine."

"So doesn't that come with benefits?"

"Sure." he sarcastically replied.

"Wait a minute. I got it." Kai said as he fumbled through his backpack.

"What are you blabbing about now?"

Kai continued searching through his bag, placing the assorted contents on the counter as he did. One was a math book, full of messy papers, a literature book, a folder, and an art notebook. Jamie picked up the art notebook and began flipping through pages. On one of the pages, there was a mountain and overlooking it was a dark, misty sky. He saw the signature at the bottom-right corner of the page: _Kai Tenrio_.

"Nice picture."

Kai looked up and noticed the picture. "Oh. That's just a painting I had been working on. It's nothing really." He reached up, grabbed the notebook, and shoved it back into his bookbag. He continued fumbling through the bag some more and finally found what he was looking for. "Oh yeah" He reached into his bag, beamed as he pulled the object of his desire, and shoved them into Jamie's hands.

"A pair of goggles?" he asked after a short period of awkward silence.

"Yes, they're goggles."

Indeed, they were goggles. They were blue and red with a black band for securing them to his head. The lenses were also glass. They appeared a bit large for Jamie's head, but it wasn't like he had been planning to wear them around town.

"What am I supposed to do with a pair of goggles?"

"Wear them, genius. I got them from my brother and naturally, I thought of you."

"...why?"

Kai chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. "I don't know. There was just some sort of aura surrounding them. I thought that you'd look good in them. They just kinda match your...umm, your style. Yeah, that's it."

"I'm sure." Jamie replied. "But what about your pay for the cards?"

"Consider the goggles as collateral until I can get you real money."

Jamie let out a small sigh and replied, "Fine. I'll keep your stupid goggles."

"Excellent. Thanks, Jamie! Umm, what time is it?"

"A little past four. Why?"

"Mom wanted me to run some errands. I'll see you at school tomorrow, okay?"

"Sure. See you later, moocher." Jamie waved him off. Kai waved back and exited through the door of the game shop. The little bell announced his departure once more. Jamie sat down on his stool and started toying with the goggles. As odd an item as it was, he got this strange sensation to put them off and see how they felt. He put shook his head furiously and chuckled at his foolishness.

"What does he really think I'm going to do with a pair of goggles? Next thing you know, he's going to want to pay me with a pair of his boxers or something." He remarked, shaking his head once more. 'That does seem like the sort of thing Kai would do.' he thought amusingly to himself. Jamie pocketed the goggles and walked away from the counter, crossing the room to reach the staircase. This staircase led to his family's living quarters, directly above the shop area. He approached the top of the stairs and wandered into the kitchen, where his mother was preparing dinner.

"Hello, honey. Is there much business today?" his mother asked as she chopped vegetables. Mari Gotaki was your average mother. She loved to cook, speak with her family about their day, and on occasion, scold you about your untidiness. She had brown hair that she kept tied back, and blue eyes that reflected her infinite wisdom.

"About like we expected."

"How does this taste?" she asked, holding up a spoon of soup.

Jamie slurped the liquid off of the spoon and smiled. "Outstanding as usual."

"Good. Then you can finish making it. I'm gonna run downstairs for a bit."

"Why?"

"To run the shop a bit longer. Call me when dinner's ready."

"Okay, mom."

His mom removed her apron and started to head downstairs.

"Hey, mom. I grabbed those cards."

She stopped and turned around. "What cards?"

"Those digimon cards you said I could have."

"Oh. I forgot. Sorry, Jamie. You know how absent-minded I can be."

"Sure, mom."

"No more freebies until next month, okay?"

"Okay. Love you, mom."

"I love you, honey." She turned and disappeared downstairs.

After dinner, Jamie helped his mom clean and then darted down the narrow hallway to his room, closing the door behind him. He crossed the room and threw himself down on the bed, emptying the contents of his pocket. He fingered through the cards, making sure to read each one thoroughly.

"With these, I'll be unstoppable." He placed the cards on an endtable next to his deck and picked up the pair of goggles. He traced his finger across the lens and then threw them to the end of his bed. "Maybe I'll humor Kai tomorrow and wear them."

He raised out of bed and walked over to his desk. He opened up his drawer and pulled out the card scanner that was kept therein. He then hooked it up to his laptop. "Let's add these cards to the database." Jamie muttered as he walked over to the endtable. He picked up his cards and slashed them through his card scanner. The computer beeped each time he slashed a card, symbolizing that the card had successfully been registered. However, when he slashed the blue card, there came no beep in response. Instead, there was a small whir and the card scanner began to spark. "Piece of junk." Jamie cursed. Just then, there was a knock on his door.

"Come in."

The door opened and his mom peeked in. "Jamie, a new shipment came in. Do you think that you'd be able to come downstairs and help me out for a minute?"

"Okay, mom. Be there in a second."

His mom withdrew her head from the doorway and closed the door. Jamie set the cards back down on the endtable and placed the card scanner next to them. He stood up and walked downstairs to the shop area. His mom had opened up a box of cards and was stuffing them into their respective racks. Jamie helped her out for a little bit before someone knocked on the glass door. Jamie walked over, unlocked the door, and outside was standing a girl dressed in tomboyish fatigue.

"Umm...hello." she stuttered. "Is this the Gotaki Card Shop?"

"Yeah. How can I help you?"

"I got a funny card the other day and I was wondering if you could tell me what it does." She pulled out a card. It was another blue card. She held it out for Jamie to inspect. "Do you know what it does by any chance? My mom said it doesn't look like any of my other cards, and my card scanner couldn't read it either." she asked Jamie.

"Sorry, Ms...?"

"Arishima. Ariana Arishima

"Forgive me, Ms. Arishima, but I don't know what it does."

"Oh. Well, thanks for looking at it."

" If I find out anything about the card, I could call you."

"I live at 687 West Shinjuku Park. My number is 555-6037"

"Okay. Umm...sorry, I couldn't help you."

"No problem." She turned and walked off. He closed the door and locked it.

"Who was that, Jamie?"

"A girl who needed some help."

"Did you help her?"

"I tried. I wasn't much help though."

"Well, at least you tried. Why don't you go upstairs and get to bed."

"Let me just finish helping you down here."

"I can take care of myself, Jamie. Now get to bed. It's getting late."

"Yes ma'am." He set down the box he was carrying and headed upstairs.

Jamie collapsed on his bed and he must have dozed off for a while because when he woke up, it was already nine o'clock in the morning. It took a while for Jamie to realize where he was at. He had had such a strange dream. He had been laying in bed when the room began to glow. He had gotten up and walked over to the source of the glow. It was coming from his laptop. The one that his card scanner was hooked up to. He opened the laptop and discovered that it was his screen that was glowing. The image of a cheetah appeared through the light, but it wasn't the normal image of a cheetah. Instead, it had a ring on its tail and gauntlet-like bracelets on its four legs. Then, Jamie woke up. "If he finds out about this dream, Tenrio will have field day." He muttered as he crawled out of bed. His bare foot rested on something warm and fuzzy. Jamie saw the fire before he ever saw its source.

"Jamie, honey. Tell me how you got his burn again." said Ms. Gotaki as she bandaged up Jamie's burnt arm. Fortunately for him, the flames had only singed the hair off his arm and barely seared the surface. Not even a first-degree burn. Still, it hurt.

"I, uh...I was making breakfast and I burned myself."

"So much for your great cooking streak, huh?"

"Funny, mom."

"I'm just glad you're all right, but you're not allowed to cook for a month."

"...but, mom?"

"I know how much you like to cook, but I just want you to heal first."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Until then, I'll be doing the cooking. How does pancakes sound?"

"Like they could fill me up."

"Well, I'll fix pancakes and you go downstairs to the shop for a while."

"Okay." He began to leave.

"...and Jamie?"

"Yeah, mom?"

"I love you."

"I love you, too, mom."

Jamie rushed to his room to grab his laptop and ran downstairs to the shop. He didn't even notice that his card scanner was missing. Jamie arrived downstairs in the shop area and walked over to unlock the door. It was almost ten-thirty now, so they were thirty minutes late on opening up shop. As always, Kai was waiting just on the other side of the door. He frowned as Jamie opened up the door to let the boy inside.

"Where've you been? I've been waiting for half an hour."

"I got burned. Thanks for asking." Jamie retorted, holding up his bandaged arm.

"Ouch. How'd that happen?"

"Don't exactly know."

"How can you get burned and not know how?"

"The fire appeared in my room out of nowhere!"

"Uh-huh. Sure it did. Did Smokey the Bear remind you to put it out?"

"I'm serious."

"Yeah, whatever. Listen," Kai said, holding up his wallet, "I got the money."

"Good. Let me run upstairs and grab those goggles of yours."

Jamie raced upstairs, past his mom, and into his room. He picked up the goggles that Kai had given as collateral the day before and walked back into the front room. His mom was waiting for him as he exited the hallway connecting his room to the front room.

"Jamie, what are you running for?"

"Kai's here. I had to scurry up here to grab some of his things."

"Oh, Kai's here? Why don't you invite him up for some breakfast."

"We were going to go out for a while and play a little digimon."

"Don't forget to grab your deck then."

"Oh yeah." He said as he raced back to his room and picked up his battle deck.

"Could you stay a little bit to watch the shop, Jamie. Just until I freshen up."

"Okay, mom." he said as he ran past her, stopping just long enough to give her a peck on the cheek. Then, he darted back downstairs. Kai was crouching in a corner and the place lay somewhat in shambles. Jamie raced over to Kai to find out what happened. "Kai, dude, what happened down here?"

"I...I thought it was...it was just a toy. Just...just a stuffed animal or something."

"What are you talking about?"

"That...that thing!"

"What?"

"It's...like a cheetah or something."

"What is? What's like a cheetah?"

"Could you tell him I'm sorry?" a voice said from behind him.

Jamie turned around to see the cheetah from his dreams. "What the...?"

"I thought he was trying to hurt me. I didn't mean to hurt him, Jamie. Honest."

"What are you and how do you know my name?"

"I'm a digimon, and to answer your second question, you're my tamer."

"Digimon? Tamer?"

"Yep." the furry creature responded.

"Did you say 'Digimon'?"

"Uh-huh."

"Now, I know I'm dreaming."

The little cat appeared confused. "Dreaming? Why do you say that?"

"Because digimon aren't real!"

"Well, I'm standing right here, and I'm pretty sure that I'm real."

"Fine. If you're a digimon, then what's your name?"

"My name is Swiftarimon."

"Swiftarimon?" Jamie thought. "There is no such digimon."

The cat looked at Kai, who had calmed down a bit. "He isn't very bright, is he?"

"Umm..." Kai stuttered. "I guess not."

Now it was Jamie's turn to be confused. "What are you talking about?"

The cat spoke again. "The blue card, genius! It summoned me."

"Summoned...?"

"You say digimon aren't real, yet you see me with your own eyes."

Just then, Kai interrupted. "Come on, Jamie. If you're dreaming, then I'm having the same dream, and there's no way that we are having the same dream because my dreams are completely...well, lets not get into my dreams. Face it, dude. We are in the presence of a full-fledged digimon!"

"Fine. Lets say that digimon are real and we aren't just dreaming. Then, how?"

"I already told you how. The blue card!" the catlike digimon responded. "When you swiped it through your scanner, you called me from the Digital World and I came, so here I am. I am Swiftarimon, and I am your digimon partner, Jamie."

"My...partner?" Jamie muttered, pointing to himself.

"Yep."

After a long silence, Kai broke in. "Guess I should've kept that card, huh."

"Yeah." Jamie chuckled.

The next morning, Ariana Arishima lay sleeping in her bed. She had planned to sleep late, but the touch of something stretching across her feet awakened her. She sat up in her bed and felt the furry thing leap off of it. It landed on the floor with a small thud and she turned her head in the direction of the sound.

"Who's there?" she queried.

"Please, I didn't mean to scare you." the female voice apologized.

"How did you get in here?"

"You called me, Ariana."

"I called you? I don't even recognize your voice. How could I have called you?"

"The blue card. Once you swiped it through your scanner, you called me."

"Who are you?"

"My name is Tierramon."

"Tierra...mon? Are you saying that you are a digimon?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

"So you're like my digimon partner?"

"That and I guess you could call me your "seeing-eye digimon."

Mina Tenrio opened the door to her son's room. Like always, he had fallen asleep at his computer desk. She had told him numerous times not to, but he was stubborn and didn't hear a word she had said. She giggled under her breath as she strode back to her room. She opened one of her desk drawers and withdrew a feather that she used just for situations like these. She walked back into her son's room and approached him. She tickled the back of his ear with the feather and he kind of twitched. She did it a second time and once more, he moved. The third time she did it, he rolled over, out of the chair, and landed on the floor with a loud, "I'm up!" He climbed to his feet and frowned at his mother. "I thought I asked you to stop doing that?"

"You did, but it's just too funny to stop now."

"Well, mom, one day you're going to do that, and I'm going to fall and hurt myself, and it will be all your fault. You're going to have to take me to the doctor and pay all those expensive medical bills or they'll throw you in jail."

"Are you ready to start your cooking lessons?"

"Huh?"

"If I'm going to be in jail, then you're going to have to cook for yourself."

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. I'll get up earlier from now on."

"I'll believe that when I see it."

Kai looked over at his clock and it read 8:53 AM. He looked back at his mother.

"Why'd you wake me up at nine o'clock in the morning anyways?"

"Because Jamie stopped by this morning and asked me too."

Just then, Jamie Gotaki appeared in Kai Tenrio's doorway. "Hey." he mumbled.

"Hey, Jamie. What's up?"

"I want to talk to you about some of the cards you picked up yesterday."

"What about them?"

"I found a rare one I thought you'd like to see."

"Cool. Lemme see it?"

"I...umm, forgot it back at the store."

"Well, which one is it?"

"Swiftarimon."

Kai let out a small, "Oh." as he realized what Jamie was hinting. "Lets go."

He began to race out, but his mom stopped him.

"Ah, mom. Whatever it was, I didn't do it."

"Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm going to hang out with Jamie for a bit."

"You're welcome to do that, but the other kids might make fun of you."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because that's what kids do when they see other kids walking down the street with dinosaur PJs on." she told him. Kai looked down at his pajamas and his face almost immediately turned a shade of what seemed to be crimson red. He let out a small chuckle that contained his complete embarrassment. Ms. Tenrio and Jamie exited Kai's room while he was getting dressed, and when he was done, he stepped out and the boys left.

Jamie and Kai stepped into the Gotaki Card Shop with a small ding of the bell overhead. Jamie's mother, Mari Gotaki, was situated behind the counter and greeted the two boys as they rushed upstairs to Jamie's room. They stepped into Jamie's room where he proceeded to close and lock the door behind them. He turned around and gave a small whistle. In an instant, Swiftarimon appeared.

"I can't believe you have your own personal digimon."

"I don't have my own personal digimon. He's my partner. Not some toy."

"Well, you know what I mean. Your own personal digimon partner."

"Yeah. It is pretty cool, but there's something more."

"What?" inquired the Tenrio child.

Jamie strode over to the endtable where he had set his laptop, scanner, and cards at two nights ago. He picked up his laptop and deck of cards and said to Kai, "Check this out." Kai approached and Jamie spoke again. "I went to inspect that blue card some more and I couldn't find it. I assumed that Swiftarimon had eaten it or something. By the way," he added, "Swiftarimon eats like a pig."

"No more than you!" added the cat.

"Anyways," Jamie continued, "I searched around some more and I also found out that my card scanner was missing. I had to shove Swiftarimon away from the edge of the bed in order to find this." He held up a small handheld device. It somewhat resembled the PET from the popular Megaman NT series that had been showing in Japan. However, it was dark blue and crimson red, and in place of the handle, there were two buttons. Near the bottom of the device was a slit to swipe cards through and there was even a small screen centered on the face of the device. There was also a larger button (roughly the size of the two smaller ones combined) on the left side of the device, opposite the other two keys which were on the right.

"Is it a...?" Kai asked as he reached out towards the device.

"Yeah. I think it is." replied the tamer as he retracted the small device.

"Wow!" gaped Kai. "A real, honest-to-goodness digivice! How cool is that?"

"Pretty cool." agreed Jamie.

"What do the buttons do?"

"I've yet to fully check it out, but I'm going to tonight at the park. You in?"

"You bet!"

Kai ran home as fast as he could. He had to get his stuff together for his trip to the park later that night. He also had to tell his mother what he planned to do. That would be the difficult part, he thought to himself.

He took the steps to the apartment building two at a time. He darted inside, past the people conversing in the lobby, and over to the elevator as fast as he could. There was a group of people already inside the elevator, but Kai managed to squeeze himself in. He pressed the button for the fourth floor and began to hop up and down as if he needed to use the restroom very bad. People gave him strange looks as he did this. Finally, after a stop at the second floor, the doors parted for the fourth floor and young Tenrio pushed his way out and went quickly down the hall to his family's apartment. In his haste, he forgot to check if the door was unlocked and, because it wasn't, slammed into it at top speed. He slowly slid to the floor, and then remembered the house key. He opened up his backpack, which he always kept with him, and extracted the house key. He opened the door and raced to his room, taking only enough time to kick off his shoes next to the door. He slung his bag down at the foot of his bed and dived under it. He hastily looked around under it. Nothing. Not even a dust bunny. He rushed over to his closet. Once again, he found nothing but the usual items. Then, he heard the front door open and he flitted into the front room where his mom had just entered.

"Where's it at? Where's it at? Huh, huh?" he exhaled.

His mom smiled and gently replied, "Sorry, not today."

It appeared as if he just found out that he had to go to the dentist and get drilled.

"I'm sorry, Kai. Maybe tomorrow, okay?"

Then the buzzer rang and before his mom stepped an inch, he was at the intercom.

"WHO IS IT?" he screamed in anticipation.

"Whoa, back off the cappuccinos , dude."

Kai practically ripped the intercom off the wall. "What do you want, Jamie?"

"I just got a delivery for you at the store. It came right after you left. Have you been signing up for things using my address again, because I told you the last time that I would not tolerate you doing that unless you told me in advance or I said you could. I don't remember you doing either of those."

"Meet me in the lobby!" screamed Kai.

By the time, Jamie had walked from the entrance of the building to the lobby's lounge couch, Kai was already leaping off the last few stairs. "Gimme, gimme, gimme!"

cried Kai as he approached Jamie. The card seller held out a small box about the size of CD case and Kai tore it from his hands. He quickly opened it up and extracted the precious items therein. Jamie stared in dismay at him. Kai was holding packages of digimon cards that held nine cards each.

"You about killed me over a bunch of digi-battle cards?"

"Not just any digi-battle cards. Check these out." He held up the card packets and Jamie read what the packets said. They said: _Digimon: The Next Level_. Jamie shrugged and gave a small, "So?"

Kai's mouth dropped wide open and he went wide-eyed. "SO? What do you mean so? Do you know what these are?" he screamed loud enough so that everyone in the lobby turned to see what was wrong. He didn't even seem to notice. He pressed the packets closer to Jamie's eyes, so that he could look again.

Jamie observed the packets of digimon cards once more and noticed what Kai had been talking about. Jamie realized that these were the newest cards to be released. These had just been released. Him and his mom's store didn't even have these cards. "Dude, these are _Next Level_ cards! Our store doesn't even carry them yet! How'd a moocher like you get his hands on them this quick?" Jamie curiously screamed. Once again, everybody in the room turned to stare at them. Jamie even heard a few shushes coming from some of the people in the lobby. "Maybe we should go somewhere else," he whispered to Kai. Together, they moved outside and down the road to the park.

"Where's Swiftarimon at?" inquired Kai Tenrio.

"He's never been in the Real World before so he's out exploring."

"When's he coming back?"

"I don't know, but I found the card and discovered something about my digivice."

"What'd you discover?"

"If I ever need Swiftarimon, I can find him using one of the options programmed into the digivice. See, watch this." Jamie pressed the bottom button a few times and then pressed the large button. Kai, intent to see what was going on, peered over Jamie's shoulder. On the digivice's screen, a small map appeared with a few blinking blips. "That green blip right there indicates where Swiftarimon is. See? Right now, he's at the corner of Eighth and Main. The blip on the screen was moving fast, very fast. In fact, it appeared as if Swiftarimon had just reached 27th Avenue. It was two seconds ago that he was at Eighth.

"What's the other blip?" Kai queried.

"I haven't figured that out yet."

Suddenly, Swiftarimon came roaring in at an unbelievable speed. "I hate this world. People have no respect. A group of girls actually picked me up and squeezed me like I was some sort of stuffed animal."

"Don't forget, Swiftarimon. These people have never seen a digimon in real life."

"Yeah," Kai agreed. "We've only seen them in the TV show and card game."

"Still." pouted the cheetah-like digimon.

All of a sudden, Jamie's digivice began to beep. "What's wrong?" asked Kai.

"I don't know." responded Jamie, looking at the device.

"The beeping means another digivice is in the area." explained Swiftarimon.

"I thought you were the only person with a digivice, Jamie."

"Yeah, me too."


	2. The Digidestined Three

I am not the owner of digimon, no matter how much I pray to be, so get over it. I would also like to say that Chapter Two is a short chapter, but it is important nonetheless.

Digimon: Twilight Chronicles

Chapter Two (The Digidestined Three)

Kai was the first to speak up as the digivice beeped continuously. "So, let's check it out."

Jamie shrugged. "Guess it couldn't hurt." The group of three began to make their way through the park with Jamie at the head of the pack, since he had the digivice. They walked for about a half an hour (the park was big) until they finally reached the source of it all. A young girl, the same one that had visited Jamie's shop, was sitting on a bench set at the edge of the walkway. In her hand was a digivice that resembled Jamie's apart from the fact that hers was pink and purple. She moved her head towards the direction of the group's footsteps and frighteningly asked, "Who's there?"

Before the three had a chance to respond, something leaped on Kai who fell to the ground in a mix of fright and surprise. When Jamie turned back, Kai was climbing to his feet. "What happened?" he inquired.

"Something jumped from the trees and knocked me to the ground!"

"What was it?"

"A...grr...digimon," growled Swiftarimon. Then he disappeared.

"Swiftari..." Jamie started, but the cat had already disappeared.

Kai raced over to Ariana in order to protect her from whatever was out there, but it appeared and knocked him to the ground again. This time, however, it did not vanish. It positioned itself between the fallen Kai and Ariana Arishima. It appeared to be some sort of feline, much like Swiftarimon, except it was white all over with pink patches of fur around its eyes, paws, and stomach. The tip of its tail was even pink. Around its neck was a sort of necklace, one that is usually worn by women of royalty on television. Because of the creature's appearance, it was assumed to be female. "Keep away from her." she growled. It bared its teeth which looked razor-sharp and its fur stood on end. It appeared that it was about to pounce, but as it did, it was tackled in mid-air by some unknown force. The female cat crashed into the ground while the unknown force landed gracefully in a nearby tree. It was Swiftarimon.

"Swiftarimon! Where were you?"

"Around. Couldn't be seen until I knew what I was up against."

The female cat crawled back to its feet and hissed at Swiftarimon.

"Now, now. Lets not be that way." Swiftarimon teased as he leaped from the tree to the ground. He zigzagged towards the pink and white digimon and slammed into it at full force. The cat cried as it once again fell backwards onto the sidewalk.

Ariana turned her head towards the commotion around her. "Tierramon!"

"Don't worry, Ariana. I'll protect you from these mean people!"

"Tierra...?" Jamie wondered.

Swiftarimon regally leaped into the air and cried, "Swiftari Stars!" The spots that covered Swiftarimon's body began to glow as red as a flaming torch and soon, they began to rise from his fur. They launched themselves at the pink and white cat with unbelievable speed, ready to impact upon the foe's weakened body.

"Swiftarimon! Stop!"

The miniature meteors vanished and Swiftarimon dropped to the walkway.

The voice had been Jamie's. Swiftarimon observed his tamer's face. His normal, cool-headed demeanor had been replaced with a look of concern. It wasn't normal.

As the flames vanished and Swiftarimon landed on the concrete, Jamie let out a sigh of relief. He had been worried that his digimon partner had not heard him. On the contrary, the cat had heard him just fine. "Don't hurt that digimon, Swiftari." he told his partner. "That is Ariana's digimon partner." Swiftarimon looked over at the female cat that stood weakly on its four legs then back at Jamie. He nodded his head as a sign that he would not bring harm to the pink and white one. Almost instantly, the female cat collapsed to the cement. Jamie, Kai, and Swiftarimon rushed over to her.

"Tierramon? Tierramon, are you there?"

Jamie turned back and saw Ariana standing up, searching the air with her hands.

"Tierramon, answer me. Are you all right?"

"Jamie," whispered Kai. "I think she's blind."

"I'll help her out." replied Jamie as he stepped over to Ariana. "This way, Ms. Arishima." he said, gently taking her by the hand. "Tierramon is over here. She got hurt pretty bad trying to protect you from us."

"Mr. Gotaki? Is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me. Call me 'Jamie' though."

"What happened to Tierramon," she asked.

"She thought we were going to hurt you and attacked us. We defended ourselves, and in the process, Tierramon was hurt. I'm sorry, Ms. Arishima. We didn't mean to."

They arrived next to Tierramon and Ariana placed her hands on her partner. "Tierramon? Tierramon, are you okay? Please, answer me. Tierramon?" she began to weep. At that moment, Ariana's digivice began to glow and the light surrounded Tierramon. After a minute or so, the light retracted back into the digivice's screen. It was a few seconds afterward that was important. Tierramon moved and then, slowly but surely, crawled to her feet. The pink cat brushed up against Ariana.

"Why are you crying?" she purred.

Ariana tilted her head upwards. Tears rolled down her cheek and, seeing this, Jamie wiped them away. "Tierramon? Is that you?" she sniffled. She tried her hardest to hold her tears back, but another one managed to escape as well. Like the first few, Jamie wiped them away.

"I'm okay, Ariana. I'm okay. There's no need to cry."

"Oh, Tierramon." she hugged her partner. Tears rolled down her cheek again, but this time, and Jamie knew it, they were tears of joy. She was glad that her digimon partner was safe. After a short silence where Ariana and Tierramon embraced, they stood up. Jamie and Kai had already risen and Swiftarimon had taken his place on the bench where Ariana originally sat. "Thank you, Mr. Gotak...I mean 'Jamie.'"

Tierramon walked over to Kai and rubbed against his leg. "I'm sorry I attacked you. I just thought that you three were going to hurt Ariana. She's the first human friend I've ever had, and I guess I was a little overprotective. Could you ever forgive me?"

Kai smiled at Tierramon and bent down. He began to pet her. "Don't worry."

"Yeah." yawned Swiftarimon. "Everybody makes mistakes."

"Hey Swiftarimon. Wake up. You can sleep at home."

"Sure, Ruin the fun." responded Swiftarimon, jumping up.

Ms. Tenrio had taken a seat on the couch and was trying to watch her favorite soap opera, but her son had been pacing back and forth in front of the television for half an hour...ever since he had come home.

"Honey, what's wrong?"

Kai glanced up as he continued pacing. "Oh, it's nothing, mom."

"You've been pacing for thirty minutes. Something's up."

"I'm just bored."

"School is out, and you're still bored?"

"Jamie's working, and I've got nothing to do. It's just...I don't know."

"What about those new cards you got yesterday?"

"My _Next Level_ cards! I forgot about those." He jumped up. "Thanks, mom! You're the best." He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek and then sped to his room. The packages of digimon cards were sitting next to his computer and card scanner. He positioned himself in the chair sitting next to the desk and tore open the packets.

The first one contained five common cards, three uncommons, and a rare _Dark Network _card. He set those down next to his deck and ripped open the second packet. Inside was four commons, three uncommons, and two super-rares: _KendoGarurumon_ and _Agunimon_. He placed the two cards in his deck and reached for the third packet. He tore this one open and extracted the other five cards. There were four commons, three uncommons, one rare _Wargreymon_, and another card that Kai had never seen before. Where the picture would be, there was only a white space. The stats weren't even filled in. There was no name. It was as if the artists had created the layout for the card, but had never decided which digimon to put on the card. "Strange." He added the _Wargreymon_ card to his deck and laid the other cards next to his card scanner. He held onto the blank card, grabbed his deck, and went down to Jamie's store.

Jamie was helping a group of kids out, so Kai decided to look around the shop. He noticed the card scanners that Jamie and his mother had hooked up for public use, so Kai walked over to it and pulled out the blank card. "Shouldn't do any harm." he mumbled as he slashed the card through the scanner. He heard a small electrical _bzzt_ and finished swiping the card. He looked at the card and there was a picture of a panther-like digimon. He blinked a few times to make sure he wasn't dreaming and, sure enough, he wasn't. The blank card has just turned into a digimon card. The name etched across the side of the card read _Panthurmon_. His attacks were Panther Claw and Roaring Quake.

"Hey." called a voice from behind him. He almost jumped out of his shoes.

"Jamie, I'm going to kill you one day for that." he stated as he turned. "How's business going along? I noticed some customers in here when I came in, so I hung around until they left. Hope you don't mind."

"Of course not, moocher. I clock out in an hour. Hang around until then. Mom is upstairs. She'll probably let you raid the refrigerator if you go up and talk with her. You look emaciated." he quipped.

"I might go later."

"Well, like I said, one hour. I'll be free all day after that."

"Okay. I'll be here."

Jamie walked off and Kai continued to scan over his new card. "I wonder." He headed for the door and bolted out. The bell jingled againto announce his departure. As it did, he thought he heard Jamie yell a quick, "See you later." He zipped down the street, back to his house, and up to his room. He stopped just long enough to give his mother a kiss on the cheek. In his room, he opened up the drawer to his desk and withdrew a rickety-looking card scanner.

The scanner was an older version of the ones found in the Gotaki Card Shop and in Jamie's room. Kai and his mother were never able to afford the newer models and every time they got enough money, they spent it on things they needed. It wasn't anyone's fault for them not having money. That's just the way it was. Kai used to hate it, but he's since learned to deal with it. Besides, if he wanted a newer model, he could always trade his into Jamie. That was one of the good things about having Jamie Gotaki as his best friend.

Kai withdrew the card from his deck holder and, after one quick glance at it, swiped it through the card scanner. Unfortunately, neither the card nor the card scanner did anything. Kai raised his hand up to his eye and wiped away a small tear. Only one. "I should've known that it wouldn't work." he smirked. "I guess you can't have everything." He placed the card back in his deck and poked his head out of the door. "Mom, could you wake me up in an hour?"

"Are you laying down?"

"Yeah. I thought I'd get a little shuteye before Jamie clocked out."

"Okay. No problem."

"And don't knock me out of bed."

"I won't." she chuckled.

Kai collapsed on his bed and fell quickly into dreamland.

The sun shined through the small clouds. It was a beautiful spring day, and Kai realized that he was flying. He felt the air against his face. The breeze felt wonderful. He opened his eyes in excitement. He watched the town below, and he felt free at last. He looked up towards the sky. It was beautiful, and so were the trees below him. He opened his mouth and laughed as the breeze carried him high above the earth. Looking up at the clouds again, it seemed as though they were opening up, in order to reveal the sun's light. But it wasn't light that beamed down from the sun. Instead, a dark beam pierced the clouds and penetrated down to the earth. The world became covered in a dark mist. Darkness. Complete darkness. But through the darkness, a single beam of light streamed through and directed itself to the floating Kai. It engulfed him and he could see nothing. Then he woke up. A dream. That's all it had been. He hadn't been flying at all. He sat up in bed and rubbed his head. He had a splitting headache.

At that point in time, Ms. Tenrio poked her head through the door. "Kai...?"

"Don't worry, mom. I'm up already."

"Oh. Umm...okay." She walked off and left the door ajar.

Kai slipped his shoes back on, took hold of his digi-battle deck, and sprinted all the way to Jamie's shop. Just outside of Jamie's shop, a bicyclist came riding by, knocking Kai to the ground. "I am not having a good few days." He cursed as he climbed to his feet. When he was upright, he was able to discern a young girl being led towards the shop by a pink and white cat. "Ariana?" he guessed.

"Mr. Tenrio?" she inquired.

"Call me 'Kai.' What are you doing here?"

"I came to buy some cards. Why'd you come?"

"Jamie's my best friend. We were going to hang out."

"Can I come?"

"Sure you can come. But first, we need to get Jamie."

Kai opened the door and the bell jingled again. He led Ariana through the door and into the card shop. Jamie was leaning back in his chair, and peered up at them as they crossed showroom floor. "Where've you been, Tenrio? And is that Ariana?"

"Waiting for you, Gotaki. And yeah, it is."

"So why did you drop by earlier?" interrogated the card keeper.

"Because I have a card I want you to check out."

"What card would that be?"

Kai opened up his deck holder and placed his hand on the cards. At once, Kai's deck began to glow. The source of the light was coming from one of the cards in his deck. He slid his fingers in and removed the desired card from its place. He held it up and it continued to glow. The card altered its appearance once more and turned into a blue card. Jamie's eyes widened, and Kai looked up at him. "J, I'm going to need to borrow a card reader." he said with a smirk.

"Be my guest." Jamie offered.

Kai shuffled past him and positioned himself in front of the card scanner. He looked over the card one last time, held it up in the air, and cried out, "Card Slash!" Then, he scanned the card through the reader. Almost immediately, the scanner transformed into a digivice with a design similar to that of Jamie and Ariana's. This digivice's color scheme was blue and green, however. Kai's disposition was that of surprise and he laughed out loud as he repeated, "I've got a digivice!" Him and Jamie traded high fives and Ariana gently smiled.

Then his digivice began to beep. They stopped celebrating and he stared down at it. "What's wrong with it, J?" He asked Jamie Gotaki as he gazed at it dumbfounded.

"I don't know." Jamie shrugged.

The digivice continued beeping.

"I wonder why it's doing that." Kai was baffled.

It beeped again, and Jamie frowned.

"It's starting to tick me off, too."

Then, Jamie's digivice began beeping, and then Ariana's. Finally, all three digivices began beeping in unison. Jamie reached his finger down and began to scan through the various options. He finally reached one option that he thought might be causing their digivices to beep. "Hey, guys. Check out the _Messages_ section. It is the...fourth option down." Kai followed Jamie's directions and Tierramon assisted Ariana in getting to the section. In each digivices _Message_ section, there was an email with an attachment. Jamie opened his at the same time the other two did. Ariana's digivice began to repeat what the email said. The email said simply:

_**Dear Chosen, welcome to your destiny. Please open the attached file.**_

Jamie and Kai turned to each other and nodded. They looked to Ariana and asked, "If you're not going to do it, that's okay." She smiled and replied, "I couldn't let you two have all the fun. I'm in." Tierramon and Swiftarimon agreed with the tamers. The three kids opened the email's attachment. Immediately, the three digivices began to glow and a voice that came from nowhere said, "Welcome, digidestined, to your destiny."


	3. The Reasons Why

I don't own digimon nor am I planning a hostile takeover.

Digimon: Twilight Chronicles

Chapter Three (The Reasons Why)

A hole opened in the area between the three digivice-bearers. A powerful wind began to blow, but to Jamie Gotaki's amazement, it didn't blow anything away nor did it suck anything into it. The voice spoke again. "Enter the gateway." Kai and Jamie hesitated, but Ariana and Tierramon stepped through without any hesitation whatsoever. Kai and Jamie glanced at each other. Kai broke the silence between the two first. "You first." he said, as he motioned towards the portal.

"No. After you." Jamie insisted.

"Fine. Then, you can stay here." Kai taunted. He ran and dived through the portal. Jamie waited a few moments before he decided to leap through the portal himself. All the lights dim and Jamie seems to become paralyzed. The view rotates around until it comes to his face, and it zooms in on his right eye. The camera seems to turn again until we are looking through his point of view. He is standing on some sort of pedestal as are Kai and Ariana. He looks around and notices that the pedestal is suspended in midair by what seems to be chains and large stairs lead up to a temple-like structure. It switches to an aerial view. The pedestal is located at the very center of the temple. From the air, the movement below looks like that of ants. Then the camera zooms back to the three children who haven't moved an inch.

Ariana lets out a loud gasp. Kai and Jamie turn and run to her.

"What is it?" Kai queried.

"Is everything alright?" Jamie inquired.

"I..I...I can see!" she gasped. "I can see!"

"You can see?"

"But how?"

A voice answered from behind them. They twisted around to make note of where it came from. It came from a young man with spiked, brown hair with a ponytail in the back and orange eyes. He wore brown robes which extended full body and tan-colored boots that were only noticeable when he walked. "All things are possible in the digital world. It is world where any wish can be granted. A world where all dreams come true."

"Huh? Who are you?"

"My name is too complicated for humans from the other realm. However, you may call me Icarus. I am the keeper of the Crystal Gate of the Neutral Realm. I would like to welcome you three to the Digital World."

"The Crystal Gate?" said Kai.

"Neutral Realm?" wondered Jamie.

"The Crystal Gate is a gateway between two worlds. Actually, it is a gateway between many worlds, but for the sake of convenience, we will simply say that it is a threshold between this world and your world. As I stated, there are many different worlds. There are worlds parallel to yours and there are some parallel to ours. This particular Digital World has five realms, one for each primary element excluding this one. There is the Realm of Fire, the Realm of Water, the Realm of Earth, and the Realm of the Skies. The fifth and final realm is the Neutral Realm. It does not take sides in the great wars that have plagued this world. You have been called here in order to end the wars and bring peace to our world. Will you assist us in saving our world?"

"Save your world? How are we supposed to do that?" Kai asked.

"You have met your allies. Swiftarimon and Tierramon."

"Yeah. What about me? I've got a digivice as well." Kai waved the device.

"Yes. Young Kai Tenrio. The most rambunctious of the group. Your partner chose to remain here. He wanted to see if you could successfully cast aside your doubts, believe in friends rather than yourself, and open the Crystal Gate."

"You passed the test, Kai." said another voice.

Kai turned and before him stood a panther-like digimon. "Are you my...?"

"Yeah, Kai. I am. My name is Panthurmon."

"Panthurmon." repeated Kai.

"So are we going to save the world together or not?" asked the panther.

Kai looked at the panther-like digimon with a fire in his eyes. "You bet!"

The group moved through the temple swiftly until they reached one of the most secretive parts of the temple. Not even the temple caretakers were allowed into this part of the temple. Icarus turned and explained the significance of this room to the tamers.

"Thousands of years ago, when the Digital World was first created, the world was at peace. There was only one-type of digimon. Then, something happened and some of the digimon data became corrupt. The dark ones became known as Virus-types, and the digimon whose data was purified became known as the Vaccine-types. There was also a third classification known as Data-types which seemed to be the neutral of the three. After a while, a war broke out between the Viruses and the Vaccines."

"Finally, after one thousand years of total war, the Harmonious Ones were forced to interfere. They ended the war in a single hour and purified the earth. They believed the peace would last, but nothing lasts forever. A new threat appeared. Dark digimon and an even darker enemy that called itself the "D-Reaper."

Jamie interrupted. "Excuse me, but did you say the 'D-Reaper'?"

"Yes." replied Icarus. "The stories of your world are true."

"So you mean to tell me that the stories of the D-Reaper were..."

"Yes, Master Jamie. They are real."

"But the government said...!"

"A lot of the things they said were lies." commented Ariana.

Jamie glanced inquisitively at her. "What do you mean?"

"When you're blind, you pay attention to things that other people...normal people, don't. When they mentioned that it was all just a big rumor and that there were no such thing as monsters, I could tell by the tone of their voices that everything they were telling us was nothing but one big lie. I could tell that they were covering up something big."

"That's quite a gift." remarked Kai.

"That depends on how you look at it." she replied.

"After the destruction of the D-Reaper three years ago, over three-hundred years have passed here." Kai was about to ask something, but Icarus already had the answer. "You see, time passes differently here in the Digital World. One hour in your world is like a day in ours. A day there is like a week here. A week...a month. A month...a year. That is simply how it goes. No one knows why, and no one cares to ask."

"Now, there is a new threat to the Digital World. He calls himself the Digimon King. No one knows who he is or how he came to be in the Digital World. There are more rumors and speculation rather than answers. However, his goals seem clear. He intends to wipe out all existence of Digimon everywhere. That means here in our world, and in your own world. Nothing is known about why he has set these goals, but it is clear that he must be stopped. That is why we have summoned you three. We want you three to put an end to the Digimon King and his evil plotting. Please, for the sake of both worlds, you must do this."

"So what's the deal with us?" asked Jamie. "I mean, I know why we're here. You explained that just now, but, more to the point of my question, is why? Why did you choose us? Why were we the ones chosen to save the Digital World?"

"A fair question. However, it is not one that I know the answer too."

"So who does?"

"Only the Temple Elder knows the answer to that."

"So, can we talk to this Elder?"

"That question brings us to why we are in this room. This room is called..."

"Wait a minute." Kai interrupted. "Can I take a guess at what it's called?"

Icarus looked at the boy strangely. "A bit unconventional, but I guess so."

"It's called the Inner Sanctum. Please, tell me it's called the Inner Sanctum."

"Umm...yes. This chamber is the Inner Sanctum."

Jamie glanced over at Kai. "How did you know that, dude?"

Kai smirked. "The Inner Sanctum is what all the sacred chambers are called."

"Let me guess. Nevada George and the Temple of Perils had an Inner Sanctum?"

"Not that I know of, J, but it's possible."

"Anyways," Icarus continued, "This room was built by the Harmonious Ones for the sole purpose of prophecy. There is a hidden data in this room that none of us could get to. However, now that you three have arrived, the data is capable of being unlocked."

"What do you mean? What data?" interrogated Ariana.

"The prophecy."

Kai sighed. "What is it?" asked Jamie.

"It seems like every story always has a prophecy."

Jamie chuckled. "It does, doesn't it?"

Icarus continued. "The data is only able to be unlocked by you three."

"Why us?" asked Jamie. "You said that the D-Reaper is real. So if the D-Reaper stories are real, then what about the Tamers who stopped it. I wish I could remember their names, but I can't. Anyways, why couldn't they unlock the prophecy's data?"

"Because you are the bearers of the D-Ring digivices. Not them."

Jamie stared down at the blue and red digivice strapped to his waist. "D-Ring?"

"The name of your digivice. It is capable of various tasks. This you know."

Jamie grabbed his D-Ring and began to fiddle with the buttons. He passed several options he had already known about and then he came to some he had never fully understood. There was _Encrypt, Hack, Data Storage, _and _Transit._ "So what is the deal with this _Transit_ section." he inquired as he looked up at Icarus.

"The D-Ring is capable of locating and harnessing the power of Data Streams which allows transportation across the Digital World. The _Hack_ program allows you to gain entry to various locked 'doors' that you may find in the Digital World. The _Encrypt_ allows you to trap a defeated enemy's data, and the _Data Storage _section contains information on digimon that you may encounter in your journeys. The D-Ring is a very useful digivice. Right now, the D-Ring's _Hack _program is what is needed in order to access the prophetical data stored in this room."

"So what do we need to do?" asked Kai.

"You must access the _Hack_ program and direct its beam to the far wall where the prophetical data is located. The D-Ring will disengage when the program hack is complete." Icarus simply explained.

Jamie flipped on his digivice's _Hack_ program and aimed it at the wall. Kai and Ariana did the same. As they pointed their digivices at the wall, they cried "Program Hack engage!" and a beam of light shot out from the D-Ring towards the wall. The wall began to glow and various symbols appeared. After a few moments, the beams disappeared and the D-Ring's disengaged. A small computer voice from each digivice replied, "Program Complete."

Icarus looked at the three teenagers in astonishment. Never before had he seen such power. _These must really be the ones_, he thought to himself. _The ones that are going to save our world._ He looked at the glowing symbols that had appeared on the wall. He ran over to them and ran his hand over them. They were genuine.

"So, umm...what do they say?" asked the blond-headed boy known as Kai.

"They are written in Digit, the language of the ancient Digital World. I cannot fully understand it all, but I will try to translate it for you three. I believe the text reads:

"In times of peril and chaotic strife,

The Trinity appears with the power of life.

Unknown to the King who watches all,

With ancient creatures, they answer the call.

The ancients say they shall prevail.

Instead of surrender, they shall not fail.

Power and belief says they can win,

Destroy his power with theirs within.

And at the end, they disappear,

No longer allowed to remain with them here."

"Is that all it says?" Kai asked.

"That is all I am capable of translating. There is more, but I am unable to read it."

"So, what's it mean?" asked Ariana.

"I believe it speaks of you three. I also believe that it says..."

As Icarus spoke, the temple began to rumble. Stones that had been used for the ceiling crashed to the ground narrowly missing Kai's head. "What is that?" yelled Jamie over the noise. He had raced to protect Ariana from a falling boulder. He was now climbing to his feet along with Ariana Arishima.

"I do not know!" replied Icarus. "Follow me!" They raced out of the Inner Sanctum and out to the area where the three teenagers had arrived. Looking up, they saw a flying digimon with black wings outlined in a metallic covering. It appeared to have a metal muzzle around its face and its entire body was covered in scales. It had two large talons protruding from its body which could be used to rip its enemy to shreds, and it had red eyes which pierced to your very soul. Its deadening gaze could stop anything in its path. Occasionally covering parts of its body were the same metallic scales that appeared on its wings. This monster was a most intimidating sight. Standing on top of the beast was what appeared to be a knight. The armor was black and silver and from the helmet you could see crystal blue eyes. A large sword was attached to the knight's back and a cape with some sort of embroidery on it flowed in the wind.

"What is that?" queried Kai Tenrio.

"It's a Leracimon (Ler-ah-chi-mon). Its attacks are Metallic Rain and Steel Talon. The one riding upon its back is a Dark Enforcer known as Rezetamon. He is one of the King's knights, which are sent out to eliminate digimon. His attacks are Shadow Blade and Night Fist. Both of them are very formidable enemies."

The knight spoke with a deep voice. "The Crystal Gate has opened. The King demands the annihilation of this temple and its inhabitants. Prepare for destruction."

The knight unsheathed its sword and leaped down to the ground. It approached Icarus and the tamers. "All within the temple shall be eliminated." He raised his sword high and as he was bringing it down, something collided with the metal which caused him to lose his balance and fall to the ground. "Resistance is futile." he stated as he climbed to his feet. He picked up his sword and proceeded to raise it again.

Jamie smirked. "You're in the wrong business. Swiftarimon, Fire Fly!"

Swiftarimon raced towards the Dark Enforcer and the knight dropped its sword. Just before the sword would have slammed into him though, Swiftarimon dodged it. He slid behind the knight and lit himself on fire. (This didn't affect him because he was a fire-type digimon.) He raced at top speed towards the black-armored soldier and slammed into him at full force. Swiftarimon leaped into the air and prepared to use his Swiftari Stars attack. The spots on his fur began to glow torch red and then lifted off of his body. They raced like shooting stars towards the dark knight who swatted the stars away like flies.

While Jamie and Swiftarimon battled the Dark Enforcer, Kai and Panthurmon had decided to take on the flying beast known as Leracimon. Panthurmon ricocheted off one of the walls and slammed into the flying beast. It whirled in the air and Panthurmon hopped back to the ground. After regaining its composure, Leracimon gazed at Panthurmon and spread its wings. "Metallic Rain!" it cried. Instantly, it launched a barrage of metal down towards the panther-like digimon. Panthurmon was quick though and managed to dodge the steel barrage. He leaped into the air and retaliated with his Panther Claw attack. Leracimon sneered, because normally, this would be thought to be a weak attack because claws against metal make it seem like metal would win. However, Panthurmon's claws are so razor sharp that they are capable of slicing through even the strongest type of steel plating. The attack connected with ease and Leracimon roared in pain as it fell backwards into the temple. Panthurmon launched himself towards the sky digimon and used his Panther Claw attack again. This time, however, Leracimon was expecting it and rolled out of the way, flapping its way back into the air.

Down on the ground, the enforcer lifted its sword and brought it down into Swiftarimon. "Swiftarimon!" Jamie cried out. Before Jamie could do anything about it though, the cheetah climbed back to his feet just in time to dodge another blow from the knight's sword. "Swiftarimon. Use Fire Fly again!" Swiftarimon raced towards his opponent, evaded another Shadow Blade attack, and slammed his flaming body right into Rezetamon's chest. The dark foe screamed in pain. Before he could leap out of the way, though, Rezetamon brought his fist right into Swiftarimon, knocking the small cat backwards into the air. Jamie leaped into the air, grabbing his partner, and landed on the ground. The goggles Kai had given him flopped around on his neck. "Swiftarimon, are you okay?" Swiftarimon gave a short yes and climbed back to his feet.

Panthurmon leaped into the air towards Leracimon, but the flying digimon dodged his attack gracefully. "Panthurmon, use Panther Claw!" Panthurmon heard this, and as he landed, he jumped into the air again. Leracimon was not expecting this speed, and got a razor-sharp swipe to the back of his neck. Panthurmon, rather than falling back to the ground, managed to dig his claw deep enough into Leracimon's neck that he was capable of pulling himself onto the digimon's back.

"Get off of me!" roared Leracimon, tossing and turning in the air. Panthurmon swung his other claw up and managed to secure it within Leracimon's hide as well. With his claws dug deep into Leracimon's hide, Panthurmon managed to hold onto the twirling beast. Leracimon flew through the air, trying to get the grey panther to fall from his mount. Panthurmon pulled one of his claws through the flying beast's hide and ripped a chunk of the beast's flesh out. Leracimon immediately cried out in pain and came crashing down to the temple grounds.

"Kai!" growled Panthurmon. "Use the _Encrypt_ program!"

Kai grabbed his digivice and flicked through the options until he reached the _Encrypt_ section. He aimed the D-Ring at Leracimon's unconscious body and cried out, "D-Ring activate! Encryption Mode!" A beam of light shot out from the top of the digivice and slammed into Leracimon. After a few moments, the digimon reverted back to its digi-egg form and was no longer a threat. The egg then disappeared into thin air.

However, on the other side of the temple, Jamie and Swiftarimon continued to battle Rezetamon. "Night Punch!" grunted the dark one. His fist became surrounded by a dark energy of some sort and he aimed the melee attack at the cheetah known as Swiftarimon. Swiftarimon dodged gracefully and launched a continuous barrage of Swiftari Stars at the dark knight. They impacted and the evil digimon was thrown backwards into the ground.

Before he could retaliate, Jamie gracefully extracted his D-Ring and cried out, "D-Ring activate! Encryption Mode!" Just like with Kai, a beam of light shot out and impacted Rezetamon. The humanlike digimon cried out as he immediately began de-digivolving, turned back to his egg form, and disappeared like Leracimon's egg.

Swiftarimon padded over to Jamie and jumped into his arms. "Thanks, Jamie."

"You did good, Swiftari. You did good." Then, Swiftarimon fell into dreamland.

It took the caretakers a while to rebuild what was destroyed during the battle. Jamie and Kai had collapsed against a wall with Pyupamon (Swiftarimon's IT form) and Emon (Panthurmon's IT form), and all four had gone to sleep. Ariana stood with Tierramon. They were conversing. "Why didn't you let me fight?" asked Tierramon.

"I would have if I had thought they needed it."

"Can I fight next time, Ariana?"

"If you must, Tierramon. I promise that much."

The amber-eyed Digimon King stared through a holographic image down at the temple were the battle between his forces and the new tamers had taken place. "So they think they can just waltz in here and not abide by my rules. This is my domain. No one refuses to obey me! Especially a group of snot-nosed brats and their digimon pets."

"Shall I make them pay, my liege?" a second voice asked.

"We shall wait and see how far their luck carries them." replied the King.

Jamie yawned loudly to announce his awakening. Swiftarimon's in-training form, Pyupamon, had slept next to him and looking down the wall a little ways, he could see Kai and Panthurmon's in-training form. Jamie walked over to Ariana who stood at the edge of the stairs, looking up at the digital world's night sky. She didn't even turn around to know he was there. "Beautiful, aren't they?"

"Yeah,. I guess." shrugged Jamie Gotaki.

"It's just...it's been a while since I've seen them is all."

"I'm sorry, but this is probably going to sound insensitive. I was wondering..."

"How did I become blind?"

"Umm...yeah."

"My mother died when I was eight years old. I cried so much that I somehow lost my eyesight. The doctors said that they had never seen anything like it and that they didn't know how to treat it. It was something that hardly ever happened. I was the first case like that in the history of medicine. They were never able to tell me when I would get my sight back, if ever. I guess I showed them, huh?" she smiled at Jamie.

"Yeah." he smiled back.

"Wow..." she gasped.

"What?"

"It's sort of the first time I've ever really looked at you. You're kind of cute."

Jamie blushed. From behind them, someone cleared their throat.

"Not interrupting anything, am I?" It was the blond-headed Kai Tenrio.

Ariana and Jamie laughed in embarrassment. "Of course not." Ariana said.

"Why would you be, moocher?" Jamie stated.

"Mm-hmm." doubted Kai.

"I see the three tamers are up finally. Did you rest well?" he asked.

Without delay, Jamie addressed the monk-like person "Icarus, why were we chosen? I understand that you said you didn't know, but I have a feeling that you know a lot more than you're telling us. It's time for some explanations, Icarus. We're supposed to be saving the world, but we don't even know why we were chosen to do so." Jamie fell silent. The other two teens remained so. The monk stared at Jamie Gotaki for a long, awkward moment, as if coming to a decision in his mind, and finally sighed.

"Fine. I will take you to see Mistress Yuri. She will answer all your questions."

"Where is she?"

"She is everywhere and nowhere. She is the essence of this temple. Once the temple is rebuilt, we may call upon her in order for you to talk with her. She knows all there is to know about the digital world. If you have questions that need answering, which I know you do, she will explain them to you as best she can. It is up to you to translate what she tells you."

"When will the temple repairs be finished?"

"It should be a day or so."

Pyupamon must have awakened because he spoke up in a groggy voice. "If I digivolve into Swiftarimon, we could get it done in triple the time. After all, I am a pretty fast cat." The cheetah bounced over and into Jamie's arms. "What do you say?"

He asked as he fell back asleep. As the group talked, he silently snored. Every few minutes, he would wriggle around in Jamie's arms in order to get more comfortable.

"You know, he's right." Jamie opened up his card deck and extracted a card. It was his _Sonic Boom_ card. "And with this card, we could get it done faster than triple the time. Swiftarimon would be the fastest digimon on the planet!"

"Don't overexert him though." commanded Ariana.

"I don't plan on it."

"You know," said Kai, extracting a _Hyper Speed_ card of his own. "The same could be done with Panthurmon. Using my _Hyper Speed_ and Jamie's _Sonic Boom_, this temple'll be done in half an hour."

Ariana held up her _Mach_ card. "Fifteen minutes, tops."

The group woke up their digimon and slashed the cards through their D-Rings. The digimon sped through the temple at the speed of light. Fifteen minute later, the digimon had laid back down and gone to sleep. "Time to go see Mistress Yuri." stated Icarus. He led them through the temple and into a large chamber-like room. He placed his hands on a platform in the middle of the room and the wall in front of the platform slid aside. A large staircase spiraled downwards into the depths of the digital world and Icarus led them inwards. After about twenty minutes, they reached the bottom of the stairs. It was dark, so Pyupamon used his Pyro Pop attack to light their path. Icarus led them down a long hallway and eventually, the tamers came to a large brick door. "Mistress Yuri, I bring the Chosen before you!"

A female voice from inside told them to enter and the brick door swung open.

Icarus bowed down after taking a few steps through the doorway. The tamers simply stood. "You are dismissed, monk." Icarus stood up and backed out of the room. "Welcome to my domain, tamers. I am Yuri, Mistress of the Crystal Gate. You have come seeking answers. One question may be asked by each of you. You may proceed."

"What is happening with the Digital World?" asked Kai.

"Its age was coming to an end, but now the threads of fate have changed."

"How have they changed?" continued Kai.

"Ariana Arishima. What answers do you seek?"

"Why am I blind in my other world and not here?"

"The Digital World is a world of dreams, wishes, and imagination. It is a world that exists only by belief. If it isn't believed to exist, then it doesn't. Deep in your heart, you believe that there is hope for your illness, and this world harnesses that. Does that answer your question, Ms. Arishima?"

"Yes, Mistress Yuri."

She turned to Jamie Gotaki. "You were chosen because of the things that you experienced in your young age and yet, you seemed to have pushed through. Kai Tenrio believed somewhere deep in his heart that everyone hated him for being poor, yet he persevered by realizing that there are things greater than money in the world. Things like love." She turned to Ariana. "Ariana lost her mother at a young age, and in her grief, cried herself blind. However, she learned to live with her disability. She learned how to do things for herself and, though everyone else said her ailment was incurable, she believed deep in her heart that there was a way to fight through the darkness and emerge into the light. You, Jamie Gotaki, lost your twin brother at a very young age and hated the world for taking him. You learned to live without him, but deep in your heart, you still seek out the answers to his disappearance. That is why you three were chosen to be digidestined. That is the reason you were chosen and not the tamers."

"But he didn't even ask a question!" protested Tenrio.

Jamie held out his hand and silenced the blond one. "She knew what I needed answers to. I am satisfied with the answers I have received." He bowed towards Yuri and thanked her for her patience. "Thank you, Mistress Yuri."

"Now, onto your destiny." A beam of light appeared and swept the tamers back to the Crystal Gate entrance. Icarus stood at the bottom of the steps, just feet away from them. He smiled as they arrived and the beam of light disintegrated. The three catlike digimon dashed over towards their partners and jumped into their arms.

"I hope you were satisfied with the answers you received from the Mistress."

"She answered all I needed to know." Jamie rejoined.

"So you will help us save this world?"

"Yes." they all replied simultaneously.

"Then it is time for your journey together to begin."

Jamie's D-Ring beeped and he picked it up to examine it. "Something's coming!"

"It is a data stream. Use it to get where you need to in this world. Your D-Ring is capable of controlling data stream entry and exit. But I've already explained this to you all." Jamie pressed a couple buttons on his D-Ring and the digivice beeped in response. Jamie lifted the D-Ring towards the sky and waited a few moments before pressing the largest of the three buttons. Instantaneously, the data stream shot out of the sky and down into Jamie's D-Ring.

"Transit program engage! Data Stream!" The D-Ring shot the data back into the sky and Jamie along with his five companions leaped into the stream. Immediately, they began to rise upwards. The noise of the data stream made audibility almost impossible, but as they rose, they heard the voice of the Mistress Yuri wish them good luck.


	4. The Digital Deputies

Sorry for the late update. I've been having trouble transferring the stories from my home computer which doesn't have the Internet to a computer that does. Something about me not having a Floppy Drive present. No need to fear though. I have a friend capable of fixing it. Until then, enjoy this latest chapter.

Digimon: Twilight Chronicles

Chapter Four (The Digital Deputies)

The digidestined continued rising and eventually, they were blinded by some sort of light. When Jamie opened his eyes, the six were laying in the desert at the edge of what appeared to be a ghost town. A group of tumbleweed blew past him as he climbed to his feet. He noticed his traveling companions lying unconscious next to him. He bent down next to Swiftarimon's unmoving body and shook the cheetah awake. He scoffed a bit and sleepily yawned. Then he rolled over. Jamie frowned and shook the sleeping cat again. This time, it awakened. "Huh? Wha...?" He stood up and looked at Jamie. "What is it, Jamie?" He observed their surroundings for a moment before asking, "Where are we?"

"I don't know, Swiftarimon, but we should probably check on the others."

"Right." The cat zoomed to each of the sleepers and gently woke them up.

Kai yawned and rolled over, much like Swiftarimon had done. Ariana woke up instantly as did her digimon counterpart. Panthurmon woke up and nudged his own partner awake. This time, Kai groggily climbed to his feet and stated, "This had better be good." Then he noticed his surroundings and once again, imitating Swiftarimon unknowingly, asked, "Where are we?"

"We're at the edge of the Barren Dunes." Ariana said as she checked her D-Ring.

"The Barren Dunes, huh?" remarked Kai who was wiping sleep out of his eyes.

"I think we should check out that town over there." suggested Jamie.

"Who died and made you leader?" teased Kai.

"Well, on the _Digimon_ TV show, the one with the goggles is always the leader."

"I gave you those goggles! If I hadn't, then I would've been leader."

"I guess that's a good thing then, huh?" joked the brown-haired Jamie Gotaki.

"I have no problem with him leading us.." stated Ariana.

"Come to think of it," said Kai, "Neither do I."

"Then it's settled. To the town!"

The three digidestined and their partners embarked on their way towards the digital ghost town. It wasn't that far from where the data stream had spat them out, so they weren't very tired when they arrived. Digimon walked around carefree and when the tamers walked into town, the digimon turned their heads. "Humans!" one of them cried. All the digimon ran into buildings and a few minutes later, the streets were empty. A moment later, a digimon stepped onto the streets.

The digimon wore a long brown duster, a cowboy hat, and cowboy boots. The boots even had spurs on them. Six-shooters were secured to a gun belt around his waist, and he chewed on a cat-o-nine-tails. He had gloves on his hands, a badge on his coat, and, as he stared the tamers down, he spat at the ground. When he spoke, he did so with an old Texan cowboy accent. "You boys ain't welcome 'round these here parts. S'pose it's best if you just up and left 'fore you even walk in."

Jamie stared at the cowboy digimon. "Who're you?"

"My name's Cowboymon and I run this here town."

"You run it? What are you, the mayor or something?"

"I'm Dune City's sheriff and we don't like your kinda trouble 'round here."

"Trouble? What are you talking about?"

"If you don't leave, then it's best I arrest you right here this minute."

Jamie backed up and threw his hands up. "Fine! We're leaving. Yeesh!"

As they turned around, they saw sand being kicked up just outside the city. A few minutes later, men rode past them on horseback. As the head of the group rode past, he knocked Jamie over into the ground. The horsemen skidded to a stop in front of the Cowboymon. The head of the group stared down at Cowboymon and spat in front of his feet. The horse neighed a couple times before the gang leader spoke. "Where's all your town's crybabies at?" It was then that he noticed Jamie, Kai, and the others. "Who're these brats? Ain't never seen them 'round town before. They yer new lackeys?"

Cowboymon hesitated. "You tellin' me they ain't yer boys?"

He looked at the teens and spat at the ground again. "Heck nah! Wouldn't hire no humans. And ah especially wouldn't hire no dang girls. Ain't that right, boys?" The party behind him burst into uproar. There were various replies such as "Ain't that right?" and "You tell 'im, Boss!" The boss held up his hand and his gang immediately shut up. He stared back down at the tamers again. "What're you boys doin' in our town? Don't you know that that's bad fer yer healthiness?"

Jamie gazed defiantly at the gang's leader. "Bad for our health? Talking to us like that is what's bad for your health. And if you call her a boy again pointed at Ariana I'll personally see to it that your data is put to a better use that spitting at something that doesn't fight back!"

"You joshin' me, boy?"

"And you see, that's another thing. Don't...call...me...boy!"

"You yellin' at me?" He turned to his cronies. "He's yellin' at me, boys."

"Get 'im, Boss!" one guy said.

"Show 'im who's boss, Boss!" another cried.

Now, Jamie was angry. "Yeah, boss. Show him who's boss."

"Well, then, guess ah better oblige my guests." He dismounted his horse and stepped in front of Jamie. Now that he wasn't looking up with the digi-sun in his eyes, Jamie could see his foe more clearly. He looked kind of like the outlaws from a children's cartoon. He had a bandana wrapped around his face in order to hide it, and a gun was also strapped to his waist. He wore a John Wayne shirt and pants. He wore cowboy boots with spurs and a rope was sitting on the opposite side of the gun on his belt. In one of his boots, there appeared to be the handle of a small axe...a tomahawk. There really weren't any features to his face except for his orange eyes and he stood just a few feet taller than Jamie. "Should've watched who you was talkin' to, boy."

He reached out to punch Jamie, but right before he connected, something knocked him away. That something was the digital cheetah known as Swiftarimon. The indian growled as Swiftarimon disappeared again. The rest of his gang was dismounting, preparing to defend their leader, when Swiftarimon zoomed by them, knocking them unconscious. The indian grabbed the tomahawk and prepared to attack. Kai grabbed his D-Ring and activated its _Data Storage_ section.

"His name is Outlawmon. His attacks are Shatter Shot and Battle Tomahawk. Kind of like the card, huh?" Kai continued to read. "Be careful, Jamie! This says that his attacks are extremely deadly!" Kai watched as the battle ensued.

"Swiftarimon, it's time for a power-up!" Jamie sifted through his deck of digi-battle cards and extracted the card he was looking for. He lifted it into the air and then brought it down, through his D-Ring, crying out, "Card Slash!" as he did. Instantly, Swiftarimon leaped into the air, a hammer appeared in his front paws, and he brought it down upon Outlawmon with powerful force. The card Jamie had slashed was known as _Big Bang Hammer_. "Great shot, Swiftari. Now use Fire Fly!" Swiftarimon sped up and a flaming ball encircled his body. This time, Outlawmon leaped into the air to avoid the attack and he grabbed his gun, preparing to use his Shatter Shot attack. "Swiftarimon, look out!" The hammer disappeared and Swiftarimon barely managed to avoid the bullet that zoomed by him and exploded upon impacting the dirt.

"Quick lil varmint, ain't'cha?"

Swiftarimon leaped into the air and his fur began to glow. "Swiftari Stars!" The flaming balls sped their way towards Outlawmon who, despite his efforts to avoid being hit, was knocked to the ground when they finally connected. Jamie extracted another card. "Hope you like the kitchen because here comes the Dragon Fire. Machinedramon's Dragon Fire! Card Slash" Jamie took the card and swiped it through his D-Ring. Swiftarimon instantly "grew" two cannons on his side and he directed them towards Outlawmon. The cannons exploded and launched two flaming beams at the foe. They impacted with full force and Outlawmon collapsed to the ground. Jamie flicked his D-Ring and activated the "Encrypt" option. Outlawmon reverted back to his digi-egg stage like Leracimon and Rezetamon had done during the tamers' last battle. Once again, the digi-egg vanished.

"I wanna thank ya'll fer helpin' out the way you done. I must say ma' sorries fer thinkin' that you was all members of them boys. 'Twas all one big mix-up. Hope ya'll can fergive an old cowpoke like mahself." He said as he took off his hat. Underneath, it could be seen that he had bright green hair. All of them had gathered inside the sheriff's office after Cowboymon had convinced the townsfolk that the tamers were not bandits.

"No problem, Cowboymon. I can see why you made that mistake." Kai stated.

"Yeah." said Ariana. "You were just looking out for your own townspeople."

"Seeing strangers stroll right into my town would probably freak me out too." said Jamie. "So who were those guys. Obviously they were some sort of outlaws, but who are they and how did they become outlaws?" He fell silent and waited for Cowboymon to answer his question.

"They call themselves the Shoot-Em-Up gang. They ain't nothin' but bandits."

"Bandits?"

"Yessum. They robbed a couple of horse-drawn carriages, the bank here in Dune City, and even had the nerve to skip out on their restaurant bill. Needless to say that Chefmon was mad 'bout that. After all, he spends countless hours fixin' us them perfect suppers. Least the customers could do is pay 'im fer it." Cowboymon explained.

Cowboymon positioned himself in the lounge chair behind his desk and cleaned his two six-shooters. "Yep, poor old Chefmon. If ya'll get the munchies, just stop by Chefmon's Cafe and tell 'im ah sent yah. He'll get ya'll's tummies filled up in no time at all. His tater soup is that best. Makes all other tater soups look like gazpachuh. Yeah. come to think of it, he makes good gazpachuh too. If you don't like tater soup, ask about his gazpachuh." He returned the two guns to their holsters and opened up a drawer. "Almost forgot." He pulled out six plastic badges and passed them to the tamers and their digital counterparts. "These're fer helping get rid of Outlawmon and his gang. These are honorary deputy badges. Hope you like 'em." The tamers took them and secured them to their clothes. Swiftarimon secured his to one of his gauntlets, Panthurmon secured his to his fur somehow, and Tierramon had Ariana hold onto hers for her.

"Thank you." expressed the grateful tamers and their digimon.

"You wouldn't happen to know where the Digimon King is, would you?"

"Why would you be lookin' fer that rascal?" asked Cowboymon as he took a swig of grape juice from the flask at his waist. Little did he expect the answer that he received.

"We're going to dethrone him." Jamie replied.

Sheriff Cowboymon spat out his grape juice (all over Jamie), and fell out of his chair. "Did you say what I think you said or did you just say something different that what I thought that you said? M'only askin' 'cause I think that you said you was goin' to take on the Digimon King. 'Course I musta had too much of this here grape juice or somethin'. Right?" He climbed to his feet and positioned himself back behind his cardboard desk.

"No, Cowboymon." corrected Jamie. "You heard right."

"And how exactly do you plan to take on the Digi-King?"

"Well, uh..." said Jamie, rubbing his neck, "We haven't figured that part out yet."

"Well, you better figure it out because if you don't then the Digi-King is gonna take you down faster than a dead bull in the slaughterhouse. Pardon my digi-western analogy, but it's all in the premise of truth."

"I understand, Cowboymon, but if you can help in anyway..."

"Oh no. I'm not gettin' on the wrong side of the Digimon King."

"You're already on the wrong side of him!" snapped Ariana.

"Wha...? Ariana?" Jamie looked at her in surprise.

"What're you talkin' 'bout, lil miss?"

"I'm saying that the Digimon King's goal is destroy all digimon and you're a digimon! Just because you're not trying to make him angry doesn't mean that he's just going to leave you alone. He's out to destroy you whether you like it or not! That's just something you'll have to accept if you want to live. We're offering you the chance to help us defeat the Digimon King and maybe even live rather than be deleted. But if you want to run away and hide out until he finds you then we won't stand in your way!"

"I beg your pardon, lil miss, but I'm just doin' what's best for the townspeople."

"Do you think that he's just going to delete you and not worry about your _digimon_ townspeople? If that is what you believe then you're more ignorant than I thought. The truth is that when he gets the chance, he's going to delete all of you. He might start with you, but he could always start with the women, and if he decides to be exceptionally cruel, then he might even delete the infant digimon first. Now tell me, Cowboymon. Does that sound like something that's best for your people?"

Ariana had thrown the cowboy-digimon off-guard. "I guess not, lil miss."

"I didn't think so." After her long speech, Ariana fell silent.

"So you see why you can't just not help us?"

"I guess so, mister. But first, I owe you all a bite tah eat." He rose from his chair. "Follow me." He led the tamers outside and down the dusty road. Various townspeople joined their party as they walked down the road and eventually, Jamie and the group, excluding Cowboymon, were being carried to their destination. The mob carried the tamers and their digimon into Chefmon's Cafe. As they entered, the mob took their seats and the tamers were seated at a private booth reserved just for the town heroes.

The owner of the restaurant, Chefmon, even came out to greet his new customers. He wore all white---a kitchen apron, chef's hat, and cooking pants. He wore cooking knives on a white belt across his waist and a large butcher knife-like sword was across his back. He spoke with a Super Mario accent. "Welcome to my restaurant! I cook only the best for the town heroes! I cook only the best for the town, too! I cook only the best for anyone who comes in and orders from me. I cook anything you ask. What'll it be, my friends?" He fell silent as he smiled through his large mustache.

"Would you happen to have a pasta salad?" Ariana questioned the Chefmon.

"Why of course! Only the best pasta salad for the little missus."

"Could I get a steak?" asked Jamie.

"How do you like it prepared?"

"Well done, please."

"Could I get the same?" asked Kai whose mouth was watering. "And dripping with lots and lots of barbecue sauce! And maybe with a couple of baked potatoes on the side! Ooh, and some of that delicious potato soup Cowboymon was telling us about! And could you even prepare some of that gazpacho that he said was so good! And maybe even...oh yes! Some fried broccoli?"

Everyone fell silent and stared at Kai in disbelief. "Broccoli?"

Kai fell silent and looked at them all. "I was just kidding about the broccoli."

Chefmon smiled once again and replied, "Pasta salad for the miss, a steak fixed well done for Mister Goggles and barbecue steak with a side of baked potatoes, potato soup, gazpacho, and...broccoli or no?"

"No."

"And no broccoli, am I correct?"

"Correct!" the three tamers replied simultaneously.

The Chefmon turned to the three digimon. "And what shall you have, kitties?"

Panthurmon replied that all he wanted was a quadruple-decker hamburger with cheese, tomatoes, onions, pickles, lettuce, ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, and barbecue sauce. Tierramon asked if she could have some fried fish. After Chefmon wrote down their orders, he turned to Swiftarimon. "And what will you have, spotted one?"

"Could I get a PB&J? Jamie fed me some in his world and they were the best!"

"PB&J? I do not believe I have heard of that?" He turned to Jamie. "Would you be as kind to show me how to prepare this PB&J. If it is truly the best, then it deserves to be in my restaurant. Please, Mister Goggles?" He bowed to Jamie.

Jamie pointed to himself anime-style. "Umm...sure. I guess so."

"Great! Follow me to my kitchen!" Chefmon took Jamie by the arm and led him to the back where the kitchen area was. There were pots, pans, forks, spoons, and knives hanging all around Chefmon's kitchen. Jamie had to duck to avoid some of them. "Now," started Chefmon, "What ingredients are required in this PB&J?" He said as he opened up one of the freezer doors. Inside was thousands of different kinds of foods. Some were exotic foods, while others were basic. Some of the foods Jamie had never seen before. "I have every ingredient under the digi-sun. Just let me know what you need and I shall graciously acquire it for you in your preparing of a PB&J. So, take your pick."

Jamie looked around the room for a little bit, but didn't see any of the things he needed. He turned to Chefmon. "Do you have any peanut butter or jelly?" Chefmon looked at him. "I'm also going to need some bread and maybe a butter knife." Chefmon smiled and quickly gathered up everything Jamie had asked for.

"Is that all you need in order to prepare PB&J?"

"Yep." Jamie took two pieces of bread, dipped the knife in the peanut butter and spread it onto one of the two pieces of bread. He scraped the remaining peanut butter back into the jar. Next, he dipped the knife into the jar of grape jelly and plopped the substance onto the second piece of bread. Once again, he scraped the remainder back into the jar. He pressed the two pieces of bread together and stared at Chefmon. "Do you want squares or triangles?" Chefmon stared at him confused and asked what the difference was. "Squares are when I cut the bread from top to bottom while triangles are when I cut the bread from one corner to the other." Chefmon nodded his understanding and requested triangles. "Coming right up." Jamie took the knife and cut the sandwich into two equally-sized acute triangles. He picked up the pieces and handed one to Chefmon and one to Cowboymon (the entire building had followed them to the kitchen). Chefmon bit into the bread and cried out in amazement.

"This...this is amazing! It is fantastic! It is stupendous! This is the best thing I have ever tasted!" He bit into the rest of the triangle and noisily gulped it down. "I have searched my entire life for a recipe this spectacular and now I have found it! Thank you, Culinary Master Goggles! Thank you!" He proceeded to hug Jamie.

"I must admit, mister. This is the best darn-tootin' samich I've ere atin'."

"Well, don't just stand there," cried out one of the townsfolk, "Make us some!"

"Yeah. We want some."

Jamie smiled and began to prepare more peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

There were groans of joy signifying that the people were full from their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. People walked over and thanked Jamie as he sat with his friends. "I didn't know peanut butter and jelly could be that popular," he stated as he looked over the new menu Chefmon had just created.

"Yeah." Kai said. "Chefmon even made it his restaurant's special."

At the top of the first page, it read _Master Goggles PB&J 8 DigiDollars_

"I wonder." said Ariana. "Is eight digidollars a lot of money?"

Jamie shrugged. "I don't know. Good question though."

Cowboymon approached them and smiled. "Seems yer recipe has really caught on. Chefmon said he has just gotten seven and one orders from three different cities. All o' them want to know what his secret is. He just keeps telling them that Master Goggles is the one to thank. He's made you famous. The sheriff of Cactusville down the way sent me a newspaper and its got yer mug posted all o'er it. Congratulations, mister. You're famous." Cowboymon held up a newspaper. On the front was big picture of Jamie and a caption below it read: The famous Master Goggles, pictured above, has invented what has become the new gourmet meal for digimon across the world...PB&J sandwich.

"You didn't invent that." argued Kai.

"Technically he did. Just not in our world." Ariana told him.

Kai dropped his head into his hands. "I could've been famous."

That night Jamie couldn't sleep. Jamie's invention of the PB&J along with the tamers saving of Dune City had gotten them a free room at the local inn. Jamie turned over restlessly in bed. He hadn't been able to sleep. He missed his mother. He could just imagine how worried she was at that very moment. They had been in the digital world for three days but in his world, the real world, only three hours had passed. He could hear her voice as she her cries pierced the threshold between the real world and the digital world. "Jamie, where are you?" she sobbed.

_Don't worry, mom. _he thought. _I'm all right. I'll be home soon._

Mari Gotaki was downstairs at her card shop. Her son was nowhere to be found. "This isn't like Jamie." she said to no one. "He wouldn't just run off like this without telling me, and especially without locking up first. Something must've come up. Still..." She locked the doors and returned upstairs to the living room. She flipped on her favorite soap opera and laid down on the couch to watch it. _Oh, Jamie, I hope you're alright._

"Hey, J, wake up!" Kai shoved Jamie out of bed. The Gotaki child woke up after his head impacted with the wooden floor. "This isn't like you, man. Usually, I'm the one sleeping late. So what's the deal?"

"It's nothing, Kai. I just couldn't get to sleep last night."

"Why?"

"Insomnia, something I ate, no reason at all."

"That's weird."

"Yeah, I guess." Jamie replied as he threw on his shirt and picked up his D-Ring. "So what time is it anyways?" He said as he strapped on his digi-battle deck and secured the D-Ring to his belt. He picked up the goggles and hung them around his neck.

"Skin-thirty." Kai responded sarcastically. "Come on. Breakfast is ready."

"You go ahead. I will probably eat sometime later."

"Not hungry? You really must be feeling bad. Catch you later." He raced away.

Jamie stared at the D-Ring digivice in his hand. _This thing can transport us anywhere,_ he thought, _except home. And that is the one place I want to go. Not some bone-dry barren wasteland._ _If only I knew how to get home. Then maybe mom wouldn't worry any. I hope she's all right._

Jamie Gotaki had still not arrived home. Mari Gotaki was starting to get worried. Maybe he had gone to Kai Tenrio's house. _That's probably it._ she thought. _He just went over to Kai's house._ It was better than if she knew where her son was really at.

"So, how was your sleep?" asked the innkeeper as Jamie set foot downstairs. The innkeeper was an Okonomon. Jamie had discovered that the night before when they had brought the tamers and their partners to this particular inn. Ariana had extracted her D-Ring and scanned the Okonomon. The D-Ring quickly fed them the information on Okonomon.

**Okonomon - A Rookie digimon who focuses more on defense and healing its allies rather than pure offense. Okonomon's main attacks are Aid Kit and Angel Serum.**

"At least we know where a doctor is if we ever need one." Kai had joked.

Jamie smiled and replied, "Best sleep I've had in ages, Okonomon. Thank you."

"There was a girl with a Tierramon looking for you about half an hour ago. She told me to tell you to meet her down at the stables when you woke up. She said she had something important to talk to you about." He took up a dust rag and began wiping down the counter as Jamie thanked him and walked out.

As Jamie shuffled down Main Street, people waved and gave hearty "Good mornings." He passed Chefmon's Cafe and the Dune City jailhouse. He noticed Cowboymon rocking back and forth in a rocking chair chewing on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He tipped his hat as Jamie walked by. As he neared the stables, Jamie could hear the neighing of horses. Pretty soon, he could smell them too. He noticed Ariana leaning against one of the horse's fences. She reached out to pet the horse and it happily neighed as she did so. "Beautiful, aren't they?"

"Yeah, I guess." Jamie shrugged off the question.

"It's just that I've never seen one before. I've heard about them, but..."

"Wow."

"What is it?" she asked.

"So this is what deja vu feels like."

She chuckled at his poor excuse for a joke and continued petting the horse. "Yeah, I guess we had this conversation the other night, huh?" She stopped petting the horse and turned to Jamie. "What do you think of all this?" Her question caught him off-guard. Then again, Jamie never really kept his guard up, so it didn't mean anything.

"All of what?"

"This whole digital world adventure. What do you think about it?"

"It's okay, I guess."

She nodded as if contemplating his answer. "And what about me?"

"Huh?"

"What do you think about me?"

"Umm...you're cool."

"Am I...beautiful?"

"Beautiful?"

"Dude, you're so dim." Kai's voice resounded from behind them. "She is trying to figure out whether or not you like her. Of course, you're not bright enough to know that she's flirting with you." They turned to face him. He leaned against one of the walls with his hands in his pockets, and Ariana glared at him before speaking up.

"I am not trying to flirt with him, Kai Tenrio! You are so..."

"Ariana, you know it's the truth." Kai responded serenely.

"Who invited you here anyways?" she practically screamed.

"No one. I was eating in Chefmon's restaurant and saw the team leader walk by. I figured he was up to something by the way he was walking, so I thought he should have someone watching his back. No offense to Swiftarimon. Where is Swiftari by the way?"

Jamie responded. "He's back at the inn sleeping. I thought I'd let him rest. Two consecutive battles really takes a lot out of a rookie. So what about Panthurmon? Where's he at?"

Kai shrugged. "He pretty much has the same personality as Swiftarimon. He goes wherever he wants to go. It's not like I'm going to argue with someone whose claws can cut through steel like a hot knife cuts through a stick of butter." He pushed himself up and walked over to the group. He looked at Ariana and asked, "Where's Tierramon?"

"She wanted to look around town, so I told her she could."

"I guess that is..." Kai was cut off by the sound of an explosion and the screams that came afterwards. They were coming from the town. Apparently the chaos hadn't reached the stables, so they didn't know what was going on until they raced down to Main Street. When they arrived, they discovered the entire Shoot-Em-Up gang terrorizing the town. The leader this time appeared kind of like the Outlawmon except that this one had a shotgun slung over his shoulder and four six-shooters: two at his waist and two sitting in ankle holsters. Jamie grabbed his D-Ring in order to check the data on the Shoot-Em-Up gang's new leader. A holographic image appeared above the screen and the electronic voice began to read off the data:

**WantedOutlawmon - Outlawmon's champion form, this digimon is known for being the most ruthless digimon in all of the Digi-West. His attacks are Shotgun Salute and Quadruple Gun Destruction.**

"WantedOutlawmon, huh? I guess he needs to be taken down then if he's wanted." Jamie raced towards the criminals until he came about thirty yards away from them. Swiftarimon appeared beside him almost instantly. "Swiftarimon, you think that you can handle this guy?" Jamie questioned the cheetah-like digimon.

"This soon after our last two fights? You bet!" The cheetah disappeared and reappeared a moment later in front of the Shoot-Em-Up gang. "I hope you guys know what you're getting into because if you don't...well, we won't get into that." He bared his fangs and the Outlawmon turned from their targets towards him. All of them pulled out their guns and began blasting. He jumped out of the way of the first barrage, narrowly missed the second, but was overpowered when the third barrage of digi-bullets came flying his way.

Swiftarimon collapsed to the ground a few feet in front of the first gang member...the WantedOutlawmon. "You must be the one who deleted my little brother, Outlawmon. I guess I'll have to avenge my brother by deleting you, little one." He raised his shotgun and aimed it right at Swiftarimon. "Shotgun Salute!" His finger pressed back on the trigger and the digital bullet exploded out of the barrel and raged towards Swiftarimon who was trying to stand up. Then, it impacted. It didn't impact on Swiftarimon though. It impacted on some sort of invisible force field. Swiftarimon managed to catch a glimpse of his savior.

Tierramon tried her best to recover after the digital bullet had impacted her Tierra Shield. She managed to keep the shield active as Panthurmon rushed over to them. "How long can you hold it up," the panther asked. She told him that she could hold it for another few moments, but then she would have to let it down. "That should be long enough." He leaped out of the protection of Tierramon's barrier and dashed towards the opponents. He raised his claw, feinting a Panther Claw attack, and instead, he used his Dash Slam attack. As the enemy thought he was going to slash, Panthurmon flipped over the group and slammed into them from behind. He narrowly avoided the barrage that was redirected towards him, but it was just what he had expected them to do. "Now!"

With their backs turned, Swiftarimon rose to his feet. Tierramon broke her Tierra Shield defense long enough for Swiftarimon to use his Fire Fly attack. He shot through the gang with ease, igniting some of their fabrics on fire. Tierramon, under the cover of the blazing flames, moved in close enough to unleash her Amazon Slash attack. With this attack, she took down a few of the foes as well. However, the unaffected WantedOutlawmon slapped her aside with ease. He did the same with Panthurmon and Swiftarimon. He laughed sinisterly as he stood over the motionless Tierramon. "I guess we'll have to eliminate the women looks at the tamers and children first." He raised his shotgun at Tierramon. A shot from this range would delete her instantly.

"Tierramon!" Ariana screamed in horror.

"Swiftarimon, wake up! You've got to wake up and do something!"

WantedOutlawmon pointed his gun at Ariana who was running towards him and her lifeless partner. "Maybe it should be the children first and then the women. So many choices, so little time." Ariana stopped in her tracks when she noticed the gun pointed towards her. The champion digimon smirked evilly as he decided on his target.

"Swiftarimon! Wake up!" Jamie's D-Ring began to glow. Swiftarimon twitched. WantedOutlawmon glanced over at the cheetah. Swiftarimon moved again. He turned the gun towards Swiftarimon. "Swiftarimon, look out!"

"Can't have that, can we?" WantedOutlawmon sneered. As he pulled his finger back on the trigger, a beam of light shot out from the sky and impacted Swiftarimon. The light blinded them all, but the bullet still speeded towards the area where Swiftarimon was. When the light cleared, Swiftarimon was nowhere to be found. WantedOutlawmon snickered and said, "Guess that takes care of him." He turned his gun towards the tamers. Jamie collapsed to his hands and knees. "Swiftarimon? He's gone." He began to pound the ground. "Why? Why did I let him do that? I couldn't just let Kai and Ariana handle it. I had to be the hero. Why?" He continued to punch his fist into the dirt.

WantedOutlawmon smirked once again. "I'm glad you're making this an easy shot. I figured that I would have a moving target." He pulled back on the trigger and the bullet came flying towards Jamie. Jamie closed his eyes, waiting for the impact. It never came. Everyone looked at the stationary bullets that were keeping the ground company. It was as if they had been there ever since the battle started. It was as if gravity had pulled them down and refused to let them go any further. Jamie opened his eyes.

The bullets laid just inches in front of his face. "How the heck...?" WantedOutlawmon cursed. "That wasn't supposed to happen." He tried to pull the trigger again, but the gun simply clicked. He checked the barrel. "Dang! Out o' ammo." He tossed the shotgun aside and two extra arms appeared from underneath his duster. In the two hands, he held the guns that had once stood in his ankle holsters. With his top two hands, he held the guns that were once strapped to his waist. "Quadruple Gun Destruction!" he screamed in anger.

The gun's began emptying, but as soon as each one got even remotely close to Jamie, they dropped into a pile in front of him. By the time it was all over, twenty-four bullets lay in a pile in front of Jamie not including the two shotgun shells that lay buried beneath them. "Whatever you're doin', kid, stop it. I'm trying to make this as quick and painless as possible, but you're not makin' it very easy." He dropped the guns and pulled out four more. "Let's try this one more time. Quadruple Gun Destruction!" Once again, he unleashed a barrage of lead towards the tamer. Jamie knew something was up, so he wasn't afraid. He climbed to his feet as the bullets raced towards him. Just to mess with WantedOutlawmon's head, Jamie held out his hand and the bullets plopped into the pile in front of him. His scare tactics seemed to work because the evil champion's eyes bugged out. "How is this possible? You're not a digimon, are you?"

"No. I'm not. But I've got a friend who is." The cheetah appeared in front of him. He stood on his back legs and had two massive claws at the end of his arms. Gauntlets were still secured to his wrists as well as his ankles and its tail flicked back and forth. There was still a ring attached to that as well. He had spiked pads on his knees and elbows and shorts extended down to just above the kneepads. More spots had appeared on the cheetah's fur and his whiskers had extended somewhat.

WantedOutlawmon sneered at the new arrival. "Who are you?"

It was Ariana's D-Ring that answered the evil champion's question.

**Cheetarimon - Swiftarimon's champion form. This is one cat who should have been declawed. He is faster than his rookie-level and his Speed Strike and Sizzle Kick attacks are not something to take lightly.**

"So you managed to escape my little bullet barrage. Just because I'm out of ammo though, doesn't mean that I'm out of steam." He charged towards Cheetarimon. Jamie ran over to the side of the battle in order to better observe the fight. For a bulky digimon, WantedOutlawmon closed the gap fairly easily. It was because of his long strides.

As the leader of the Shoot-Em-Up gang was about to impact Cheetarimon, the cat disappeared and instantly reappeared behind WantedOutlawmon. "Sizzle Kick!" The cat flamed up and performed a graceful roundhouse which ended with a flaming kick to WantedOutlawmon's back. The gang member fell forward. He withdrew one of his empty guns and used it as a melee weapon. Unfortunately, Cheetarimon was too fast. He leaped into the air and came down upon the outlaw with the full force of both his own momentum and gravity behind him. The WantedOutlawmon melted to the ground unconscious.

Cheetarimon vanished and then reappeared across the street on top of a building. Jamie withdrew his D-Ring. "D-Ring activate! Encryption Mode!" The beam discharged from the digivice and made contact with the lifeless outlaw. He reverted back to his digiegg form, like the other foes did in the previous battles, and then the egg disappeared, on it's way to Primary Village. Jamie smirked in victory and Cheetarimon approached his tamer. "I thought you were a goner for sure." Jamie told his partner.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Cheetarimon responded.

Ariana and Kai jogged up to Cheetarimon and Jamie. "Swiftarimon?" Kai asked.

Cheetarimon looked at Kai. "I'm Cheetarimon now."

"You can be whoever you want, big guy."


	5. The Sands of Time

Hey everybody! I'm back in action and more importantly, so is Twilight Chronicles. I know it's been a week or two since the last update, but the problem has been fixed and its time to get on with the show. Prepare yourself for Chapter Five and post your review afterwards. I haven't seen any reviews for Chapter Four, so start posting! Thanks.

Digimon: Twilight Chronicles

Chapter Five (The Sands of Time)

"I put enough supplies in there to last you six for two months." explained Okonomon as she helped Kai strap on his travel pack. It looked like the packs would cause the tamers to collapse the moment they tried to walk. However, despite their appearances, the packs were fairly light. It's true that Okonomon had packed enough supplies, including food, tents, and clothes, to last the whole of two months, but the tamers were exceptionally strong. Ariana picked hers up with ease as did the two boys. "If I don't say goodbye now then I'll get all emotional later, so give me some hugs before I go."

"Yes ma'am." replied Ariana, giving the female digimon caretaker a hug. The past days while the tamers were in town, Okonomon had gotten somewhat attached to them. So much, that now she was crying as she embraced each of them. "I hope to see you sometime again." Ariana told the Okonomon as they released from their embrace. The digimon then proceeded to hug Jamie and Kai. The digimon counterparts were the last ones to be embraced.

Cowboymon tipped his hat at the tamers and shook their hands firmly. "Ya'll'll be passing through the Western Dunes so you'll have to be careful. Not a lot of digimon care to trek in them parts 'cause o' them frequent sandstorms. If you manage to get through there, then ya'll be on your own. Just do your best not to stop in 'em." The tamers turned to leave and Cowboymon waved them off with a quote that reminded Jamie all too much of the Beverly Hillbillies. "Ya'll come back now, you hear?"

The whole town had come to see the digidestined off. They all cheered and waved until fifteen or twenty minutes later when the travelers disappeared beyond the horizon.

Half a day into their journey through the dunes, the group was exhausted. Though his throat was completely parched from the scorching heat, Kai still managed to squeak something. "I think we oughta rest." he suggested.

"Didn't you hear Cowboymon?" Jamie scolded him. "He said not to stop in the dunes. I think that it would be best for all of us if we just kept moving on." He turned to the others. "What do you think, Ariana?" The girl informed him that she wasn't getting in on it, and they would have to come to a decision by themselves. After arguing for a while, they agreed to take a fifteen minute break. Originally, it was twenty-five, but Jamie wanted five. Kai dropped it down to twenty and Jamie raised his to ten. Finally, the two agreed to settle on fifteen minutes of rest.

Ariana plopped her bag down onto the ground and sat next to it. Tierramon curled up on her lap, and yawned about the heat. Then she closed her eyes. Jamie witnessed this and spoke up. "You know, I heard that you aren't supposed to sleep when it is this hot outside. Something about it being the onset of a heat stroke."

Kai nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I heard that one, too."

Ariana acknowledged their advice and shook Tierramon. "Tierramon, you can't go to sleep right here. You could easily have a heat stroke." Tierramon stretched and rose to her feet. She flicked her tail and leaped to the steaming hot sand. "I'm sorry, Tierramon, but I don't want you to get hurt or anything like that."

Tierramon smiled. "I understand. And I'd much rather get hurt in battle than is some desert sleeping. I apologize." She rubbed up against Ariana and purred. Ariana placed her hand on her digimon partner and scratched behind the cat's ear.

"You didn't do anything, so don't apologize to me."

Fifteen minutes later, the tamers and their digimon rose and were continuing through the Western Dunes. It seemed to grow hotter as they continued through the desert and more than once, they stopped to get a drink of water from the supplies that Okonomon had packed. A few hours into their journey, the first canteen was empty. It had managed to keep the six travelers hydrated, but could no longer serve its purpose.

After another hour or so, a raging sandstorm had kicked up. The tamers were caught unaware and began to worry. "Guys, I just want you to know that if we die out here, I leave all my cards to Jamie." Kai said as he tried to lighten the tense mood that had set in. "And I want to know that all my TV dinners go to Panthurmon. I know that none of this will hold up in a court of law because it's not in a written will, but I hope that you know it's the thought that counts." The rest of the group let out half-hearted chuckles. Apparently, they were trying to keep each other's spirits up as well.

"Same here." Jamie answered. "Except my TV dinners go to Swiftarimon."

"Well, I don't have to worry about my TV dinners." responded Ariana.

"Yeah," Jamie joked, "Swiftarimon already ate them all."

"Did not!" Swiftarimon argued.

The tamers chuckled. Jamie looked down at the cheetah-like digimon in his arms. "Relax, Swiftari. It's a joke. It's what we humans say in order to lighten the mood. To make people laugh and feel happy. Do you understand?" Swiftarimon looked up at him blankly and blinked.

"I'm not an idiot. I know what a joke is. I was joking." The cat responded.

"That's what they all say." replied Kai Tenrio.

"Honestly." said Swiftarimon, defending himself. They all chuckled again.

Six hours into their trip through the desert, they were exhausted. "You know, I think they lied to us when they said that the desert was a shortcut. I have a mind to turn around right now and go back to give them a piece of my mind." Ariana had become exhausted from the trip and had resorted to being paranoid of every bump and crash that occurred the travelers. "What do you guys think about that?"

"I think it'll be a long trip back." grumbled Kai.

"Same here." said his counterpart.

Kai looked over at Jamie. "What are you doing, J?"

"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me, J?"

"Let's see... You've told me thirteen times since we left the real world and five times since we left Dune City. Let me think this through. Tell me seven more times and then I'll stop. Deal?"

"Don't call me 'J.' Don't call me 'J.' Don't call me 'J.' Don't call me 'J.' Don't call me 'J.' Don't call me 'J.' Don't call me 'J.' There, seven times, as we agreed. Now don't call me 'J' ever again. I hate being called that."

"Are you going to answer me?"

"What'd you ask?"

"Why are you putting the goggles on?"

"Because my best friend in the entire world gave them to me and I absolutely looovveee them! Is that a satisfying answer for his highness?" Jamie snapped at the blond-haired Tenrio.

Panthurmon and Swiftarimon were the first ones to speak up. "Hey, guys! Chill out. There's no reason to yell at each other." Swiftarimon said. "It's just because of the heat out here that we're yelling at each other." Panthurmon told the two male tamers. After some inaudible words, the two boys stopped bickering and continued through the desert. Swiftarimon whispered to Panthurmon and Tierramon. "I think the heat is getting to them. We need to figure something out very fast or they might get hurt...or worse."

Unexpectedly, the ground began to shake and the sandstorm grew worse. "Guys, stick with me! I can see through all of this." Before the bickering between the two boys, Jamie had strapped on his trusty goggles. He had thought they were kind of lame at first, but now that he was presented with a situation where he could use them, he believed that they were actually pretty handy. Rather than getting sand in his eyes, his vision was pretty extraordinary considering the given situation. A few more minutes passed before Jamie spoke again. "Hold on a little longer guys. I think I see something up ahead!"

"What is it?" Ariana squinted her eyes in an attempt to see what was ahead.

Kai threw his hands over her eyes. "Don't open your eyes! Sand will get in them and mess them up. Just trust Jamie. He hasn't let us down at all in the past week." Ariana replaced Kai's hand with her own. With their free hands, the tamers followed their newfound leader. After an additional fifteen minutes, which was added to the day they had already spent walking, they reached the edge of the desert area. The sandstorm subsided almost immediately. The tamers removed their eyewear and surveyed the land. The orange sun drifted below the horizon behind them. "Is it almost nighttime already?"

Ariana gazed at the twilight for a moment. "Does it look like this every night?"

She turned to the leader at her right. He simply grinned and, without an answer, turned back to survey the large structure in front of them. It was huge. No. That was the understatement of the year. It was larger than gargantuan. It appeared similar to the enormous Aztec temples built in a country that Jamie had only read about in geography books. Unfortunately, Jamie couldn't remember the name of that country. (He had made a "C" in his last semester of geography.) Ariana turned around and saw the pyramid-like temple towering over their small party. The final word that was heard from her mouth was something that she repeated over and over for five minutes. It was simply, "Wow!"

"You betcha!" stated Panthurmon. "Welcome to the long-lost Desert Temple!"

"Long-lost? Does that mean...?" Kai dropped his eyes down to his partner.

"Yep." the panther interrupted. "We've just found a myth."

Ariana was the first to notice. "Umm...guys? Is it me or did a sandstorm that's been raging for the past eight hours instantly stop the moment we got here? I mean it could just be some sort of coincidence, but this is the digital world and..."

Kai finished her sentence. "There's no such thing in the digital world."

Jamie bent down to Swiftarimon's level. "Check it out, buddy."

"Got it." replied the cat, zipping away towards the temple.

"Go with him, Panthurmon."

"Yes sir!" Panthurmon jogged after the cheetah.

Tierramon started after the other two cats, but Jamie stopped her. "Let them go. We need someone to stay here in case something happens. Do you have a problem with that?" Jamie looked down at the pink and white cat. The female cat nodded and Jamie dropped his arm. All four of them fell silent. They watched until the cheetah and panther digimon fell from their vision. "Okay, let's go."

"Go?" Kai asked. "Go where."

"To the temple. Where else?"

"So what was the point in sending our digimon?"

"I saw it on TV one time. It's called a 'scouting party'."

"Oh yeah. I think I saw that one."

"Can we stop talking about war tactics and figure out where we are?"

A guttural voice spoke from behind them. "Welcome to hell."

The tamers turned and saw an eight-foot tall beast with four legs standing before them. It appeared to be made of sand and was in the shape of a wolf. It had red eyes that peered out of the dark holes that were situated where eyes would be. Tierramon stood at the ready. "Who are you?" questioned Jamie.

"I am Desertmon." Kai's D-Ring agreed with the digimon.

**Desertmon** – **A Champion digimon capable of blending in with its desert habitat. It's Barren Claw and Desert Crunch attacks will easily leave you with dry mouth.**

Tierramon growled at the digimon. "How cute. Such passion for one so weak. I will tell you once. Leave my domain and never return. If you follow my wishes, I may let you live. If not, then I can delete you right now."

Tierramon continued to growl. "Stay away from us."

"Or what?"

"Or I'll delete you myself." the pink cat replied.

Desertmon melted and became one with the sand. The group of four looked around. Then it rose up behind Tierramon. "Tierramon, behind you!" her tamer cried. Too late. The sandy claw came down and impacted with the cat. She flew backwards and slammed into the ground. Luckily, the soft sand broke her fall. She flipped to her feet and charged Desertmon. "Tierramon, Tierra Cannon!" The pink cat opened her mouth and shot off a pink beam at the overgrown sand beast. It impacted and the beast melted back into the ground. "Tierramon. Be on your guard! Use Tierra Shield."

The female digimon summoned a digital "bubble" in order to protect herself from the imminent attack. It was a good thing she did. Desertmon emerged from the sand and used his Desert Crunch to attack Tierramon with a powerful bite created from collapsing teeth of sand. The full force of the attack was enough to bust Tierramon's shield. She dodged the collapsing sand in time to retaliate with her Tierra Cannon. The pink beam cannon launched towards the desert beast and impacted once again. Regrettably, the beast vanished into the earth again.

"How are we supposed to beat this thing?" Kai spat.

"Like this." Ariana withdrew her D-Ring. "Please work." she whispered.

"What are you doing?" Kai asked.

"D-Ring activate! Enable digivolve!" Her D-Ring beeped twice and light pierced the air. The beam shot outwards towards Tierramon. It engulfed the pink cat and a moment later, a large regal cat stood in her place. Her tail had grown outward and appeared to be that of a Persian cat...a really big Persian. Her whiskers had grown, and her blue eyes pierced to the core of one's heart. Her fur was still a checkered mix of pink and white, and she still stood on all fours. A beautiful collar had appeared around her neck and her fur swayed majestically in the wind. Ariana glanced at her digimon in disbelief. "It...worked." she managed to gasp. She held her digivice up in order to analyze her Champion-level counterpart.

**Tianamon** – **Tierramon's Champion-form. Don't take this pink cat lightly because she's no kitten. Her Hydroponics Kick and Bubble Rain attacks will leave even the most formidable foe with a dampened spirit.**

"I didn't know it was possible to force digivolution." Jamie stated. "I thought the bond between tamer and digimon caused the change. How did it happen then?" Jamie's eyes made contact with his D-Ring. "It must be our D-Rings."

"You think?" Kai asked.

_There must be more to these things than meets the eye._ Jamie thought.

"Tianamon! Use Bubble Rain!" Ariana cried.

A few feet behind the female tamer, Kai leaned over to Jamie. "What good will that do?" he asked their googlebearing leader. "That's just a little bit of rain."

"A little bit of rain can become a lot of water. Take a day at the beach for example. When the tide comes in, it causes the sand you used to build your castle to become weak and your sand castle can no longer hold itself up. It collapses and you're forced to start all over again. She's planning to soak the area and expose Desertmon. If she can do that, Tianamon can use her Hydroponics Kick to soak the him. If it doesn't destroy him, it'll at least distract him long enough for us to escape." Jamie explained.

"Oh."

He was right. Tianamon let out her Bubble Rain attack as planned and the bubbles came crashing down into the earth around them. It caused the earth to become drenched and Desertmon was exposed. He returned to his wolf-like form and Tianamon immediately charged the beast. She leaped into the air and came crashing down with her Hydroponics Kick. Her damp kick impacted with the beast and the sand digimon was paralyzed. Ariana withdrew her D-Ring. "D-Ring activate! Encryption Mode!" The beam shot out and like the times before, reverted the enemy to its digiegg form and sent it away to Primary Village. "Maybe they can fix its corrupt data." Ariana said as she clipped her D-Ring to her belt. Tianamon approached the group and Ariana petted her.

"Anyone need a ride to a long-lost pyramid in the middle of a barren wasteland?"

They climbed onto Tianamon's back and the large Persian cat lurched forward. The wind beat against their faces as they rode towards the large pyramid. Five minutes later, they stood at the foot of its steps. Tianamon de-digivolved into Tierramon and together, the four climbed the stairs. They met Panthurmon at the top. He was kneeling against one of the pyramid's walls, trying to catch his breath. "That cheetah is just way too fast for me." Kai's partner stated. Now that the group had caught up with him, Panthurmon de-digivolved into Emon, his in-training form. "That feels a lot better." the whiskered one sighed.

The tamers informed him of what happened after the two cats had left. "I knew I shouldn't have left!" Emon exclaimed. "I had the strange feeling that something would happen, but I didn't know what." He gazed over at Tierramon who had reverted back to her in-training form as well, in order to conserve her energy. "But I guess you had it all under control, huh, Caliemon?"

The small pink fluff smiled in agreement. "That'll teach them to mess with girls."

"Yeah. I guess so." Emon replied. "What do you think, Kai?"

"Sure. I'll go with that." Kai shrugged. "What about you, Jamie?"

Jamie had fallen behind the group. He was fiddling with his D-Ring.

"Jamie? Jamie?"

Jamie snapped to attention. "Huh?"

"You still messing with that thing, dude? You need to take a break."

"I'm just looking for Swiftarimon. It's been almost an hour and nothing."

"Check the D-Ring's map."

"I've already tried that. I can't seem to pick up his signature. I'm reading something else though. It seems like another D-Ring is around here. And if another D-Ring is here, then that means someone must own that D-Ring. Which means we have another tamer here in the digital world with us." He flipped back to the map screen. He gawked at the blip on the screen indicating the presence of a fourth D-Ring digivice. "I hope whoever owns the D-Ring is a nice guy. I can't imagine another battle without Swiftarimon." He reattached the D-Ring to his belt and together, the group of five entered a chamber that was void of all light.

"Dude, it's way dark in here." Jamie stated

"Thanks for the information, Captain Obvious." Kai avowed. He reached into his card holder and extracted a card. "Perfect. Card Slash!" He slashed the card through his D-Ring and the room instantly lit up. "And God said, 'Let there be light'."

"What card did you use?"

"Your _Shining Light_ card."

"Figures. I trade one of my rarest cards for his blue card and he still gets a digimon." Jamie stated to no one in particular. "You get lucky an awful lot, don't you, Tenrio?"

"I have my days."

"Guys, let's focus. We're here to find Swiftarimon and in the process, investigate the temple. Whatever information we can gather about this place just might help us in the future." Ariana fell silent. In front of the tamers was a large gap in the walkway. It covered a decent length, and below that was a straight-vertical drop into a pit where the floor was not at all visible. "That must be at least a twenty-foot gap with a two-thousand foot drop." Ariana gaped.

"Swiftarimon must've jumped it." Jamie stated. He looked down. "Or he fell."

"Nah, I went the other way around, but that turned out to be a dead end." The group turned around to observe the familiar voice. It was, of course, Swiftarimon. At last, after about an hour and fifteen minutes, the entire group was reunited. The cheetah gave a huge grin and leaped into Jamie's arms. "Jamie!" Jamie caught him and held him close. "Were you guys okay? I sensed a digimon after I left, but I was too far away to do anything. Well, that. And I was lost." Swiftarimon's demeanor was that of trepidation.

"It's okay. We were attacked by a Desertmon, but Tierramon took care of him."

"Yep! I digivolved and took care of that overgrown sand wolf!"

"You digivolved?" Swiftarimon inquired. "Good for you!"

Ariana turned back to the task at hand. "So how do we get across?"

"I don't know." Kai shrugged.

"I know how to cross!" Swiftarimon said. "Follow me."

The small cheetah led them back the way they came, but this time, instead of exiting, he led them down a small pathway that the humans could barely squeeze through. It was kind of similar to a cavern pathway. "Swiftarimon," Jamie stated, "Are you sure this path was meant for people our size? I mean, couldn't you at least have found another way through. Something bigger, maybe?"

"Sorry, Jamie. This is the only way I saw to get through. I was afraid to go by myself though. I didn't know what awaited me on the other side." Swiftarimon and the digimon scuffled their way down the path as the tamers pressed their way through. "I'm sure that it isn't that long of a path. Besides, even if it is, at least it'll be an adventure. Right?" The cheetah-like digimon glanced back at the tamers. He appeared to be inquiring his human counterpart, Jamie.

"I guess that you're right, Swiftarimon."

"Well, in my opinion, I've had enough adventures to last me a lifetime." Kai said.

"Well as soon as you figure out how to get us back home then we'll end this adventure." Jamie told him.

"Hey, guys." Swiftarimon called. "We're here."

The tamers squeezed their way through the final leg of the temple pathway. They looked back at the mouth of the entryway which didn't even appear to be able to fit them. They had emerged on the other side of the pit, and were about ten feet away from another doorway. The door was adorned with gold, silver, and copper emblems. There was also gems encrusted into the face of the door and various symbols were painted onto it as well. The group approached it and tried to get it to budge. Jamie pressed his whole body against the door, but he was unable to get it to open. Kai did the same, but he was unable to open it as well. Ariana looked at them as the two boys pushed against the door without ceasing. "What about the _Hack_ program?" she asked. She grabbed her digivice and flipped it to the Hack option. She aimed her D-Ring at the door and cried, "Program Hack engage!" The beam shot out of her D-Ring and impacted the wall, but to no avail. She disengaged the program and Kai decided to try.

"I'll show you how a man does it. Program Hack engage!" The beam shot out of his D-Ring, but once again nothing happened. Kai flipped off his D-Ring and strapped it to his waist once again. Jamie extracted his and did the same. A third beam shot out and impacted the door. However, like with the previous two tamers, nothing happened. "So much for your plan." Kai told Ariana. "Not even our fearless leader could open it."

"What if we all tried together." she suggested. "Like back at the temple."

"Good idea."

The three activated their D-Ring's and initiated the Hack program. They launched the beams and immediately, the three streaks of light intertwined and impacted the 'locked' door with such a force that the tamers were thrown backwards. They collapsed and the D-Rings dropped to the ground. The data that was the door instantaneously collapsed and the door 'opened.' In actuality, the door simply disappeared. The digimon raced over to their tamers and tried to awaken them. However, they tried with no such happening. The tamers had been knocked unconscious.

"Why do you think you can win, Jamie?"

"Because I have faith."

"Faith gets you nowhere here. It does not exist in the digital world."

"Then I will create it."

"Then you will fail."

"Jamie. Wake up. Wake up!" Swiftarimon nudged his tamer, and finally, Jamie Gotaki rose. He seemed groggy. He didn't know where he was. Next to them, Panthurmon and Tierramon managed to awaken their human counterparts. Kai woke up with a sarcastic remark as always and Ariana woke up without saying a word. She simply hugged her partner. "I'm glad you guys are okay." Swiftarimon sighed with relief.

"Where are we?" Jamie asked again.

"We're still in the temple. After you guys hacked the door, you collapsed."

"We've been trying for four hours to wake you up."

"Did we get the door open?" the three humans asked in unison as they rose.

"Yeah." Panthurmon responded.

"Then lets go." Kai pronounced as he dusted himself off.

"Hold on." Jamie commanded as he grabbed Kai by the arm. "Are you sure about this?"

"Uh...yeah. I mean, I guess. It's okay with you, right, leader?"

"If Ariana's in?" Jamie answered as he turned to Ariana.

"I'm not going to be outdone by a couple boys." she smiled.

"Then let's go." Kai repeated.

They walked through the hole in the wall and a single moment later, the door reappeared, trapping them inside the room. Kai turned around and stared at the door. "Great. It looks like we're trapped." He turned back towards the new pathway. "Guess we'll have to look for another way through." Kai looked at Jamie and Ariana. The two agreed with him. Going onwards would be the only choice for them now.

They pressed onward, deeper and deeper into the temple. They reached twists-and-turns, stairs that led upward, stairs that led downward, and more than one dead end every hour or two. They reached chambers with rare treasures that had never before been touched. Jamie and Kai attempted to change that more than once, but Ariana stopped them.

One time they reached a chamber with what appeared to be a coffin. Jamie had compared it to an old movie he had once seen. The movie had starred an archaeologist that discovered an old hidden pyramid buried deep within the Egyptian dunes. He and his crew had descended into the pyramid burial chamber where they discovered the coffin of a mummified pharaoh. When they opened the coffin to see what was inside, they awoke the 10,000 year old mummy that was slumbering inside. They managed to burn the mummy to ashes right as they were escaping the pyramid, but in the process, only the main character and his female assistant escaped. They went on to get married, have children, and tell their tale to their children and later on, their grandchildren. It was one of those 'happily ever after' kind of movies, Jamie had told the group.

Finally, they ascended up some stairs and into a large room. The walls were open from here and they could look out upon the desert that lay below. They were at the very peak of the temple now. The only thing in the room was a large pedestal that appeared to be the size of a large digimon. Bordering the top edge of the open walls and the roof were what appeared to be mirrors, and in the roof above them was a somewhat slanted skylight. "What is this place?" Kai wondered. He approached one of the mirrors and ran his hand over it. Then he repeated, "What is this place?"

"It's the Sacrificial Chamber." Jamie gasped in realization.

"The Sacrificial Chamber? What makes you so sure?"

"Isn't it obvious? The sun beams down and reflects off of the mirrors which them reflect down to the pedestal." He walked over to the pedestal, and knocked on it. It made a metallic sound when his fist came down upon it. "It's made of metal. That means when the sun beams down onto it, it will heat up the metal and anything on it will be roasted. Whoever built this place must have worshipped the sun. That's why it's so open. They were trying to please the sun."

"Worship the sun? Why would they do that?" Ariana inquired.

"In our world, many ancient civilizations did that. It would make sense for the digital world to do so. In fact, I would think that the digital world existed a long time before any sort of technology did on our world."

"So why call it the digital world?"

"It's probably something that the first humans dubbed it when they came here."

"Why would the temple-builders make it so similar to that of ours then?"

"You know how the ancient Greeks worshipped gods such as Apollo?"

"Yeah."

"Well, they probably witnessed a digimon that rode across the sky in a chariot carrying the sun. Digimon escaped into our world three years ago when the stories of the tamers first popped up. They probably escaped into the real world long before then. Well, that would be my theory at least."

"I never thought of it like that before." Kai responded.

"If you think about it for a moment, it makes perfect sense. A fully-sentient world."

"Guys," Ariana said, "I've got a bad feeling about this place. I don't think we should be here."

"Why not?" Kai stated. "We've got the digimon to protect us. What could possibly hap...?" He was cut off by a low rumbling that grew louder and louder. They looked out the temple peak onto the desert below. Another sandstorm had kicked up. It raced towards them at a blinding speed. The tamers had been caught off-guard.

"What could possibly happen, huh?" Jamie glanced at Kai.

"Give me a break." Kai apologized.

"Let's worry about the blame later, boys. Right now we need to get back inside." Tierramon stated.

"Tierramon's right." Ariana avowed.

The two boys nodded and together, the party sprinted towards the door. At that same moment, the entryway vanished and in front of them stood a solid wall. "You have trespassed in the temple of the ancient Sandkinmon. None that have done so may be pardoned. Prepare for your deletion." The voice was raspy and the tamers didn't recognize it.

"He's blocked us in!" Panthurmon exclaimed as he banged his paw against the door.

"What?" Kai inquired as he, Ariana, and Jamie darted over to Panthurmon. "Great! Now we're dead!"

"Not on my watch, Tamer Kai." muttered a voice from behind them. They turned around to see a figure appear from thin air. He was a tall, thin, and slightly muscular teenager with a bag slung across his back. He was wearing a white T-shirt under a blue short-sleeve shirt that he kept unbuttoned and a pair of green cargo pants. Two wristbands could be seen on his arms. The boy wore a pair of black and white sneakers, and he would have appeared quite handsome if it wasn't for the fact that his expression seemed somewhat cold. "Gadomon, hit it!"

A tiger, roughly the size of Swiftarimon, appeared on the edge of the 'windowsill' and stood silently as the sandstorm came ever closer. It was orange and black just like a normal tiger, but it stood on two legs and the fur around his head was shoulder-length and had been braided. It had a large metallic glove that covered the top part of his right claw, and he wore a black bandana around his neck. Jamie whipped out his D-Ring in order to analyze this fourth cat. "Let's see who you guys are."

**Gadomon** – **A Rookie digimon capable of controlling the thunder itself. His Tiger Claw and Silence Breath attacks will render the foe weak, confused, and most of all, defeated.**

"Gadomon, prepare to use your Tiger Claw!" the mystery boy commanded.

The tiger digimon lifted his right claw and it began to glow. The sandstorm continued to scream towards them. Jamie stepped next to the mysterious stranger and asked him, "Who are you?" The boy simply continued staring at the oncoming wall of sand. Jamie asked once again. "How did you get to the digital world? Through the Crystal Gate?"

Without turning his head, the boy replied, "You might want to stand back." Almost instantly, the storm impacted. Thousands of grains of sand slammed into them, but as they did, Gadomon swung his claw. The wall of sand was torn in two and the tamers shielded their eyes as the individual streams passed by them. When it was over, they uncovered their eyes and saw a humanoid sandman standing at the base of the temple. It looked up at them and grinned evilly. The mystery tamer and his digimon stepped off the edge of the sill and slid down the side of the temple. Jamie and the others raced over to ledge in order for them to watch the battle that was getting ready to rage below. Ariana grabbed her D-Ring and aimed it at the new digimon. It instantly beeped in response.

**Sandkinmon** – **This Ultimate digimon is as old as the digital world itself. His Sand Wave and Intrusion Dune attacks are nothing to take lightly. It was said that in his time, not even Mega-level digimon could defeat this ancient virus-type.**

"Who are you?" Sandkinmon rumbled.

"I'm your worst nightmare." the mysterious tamer responded.

Kai chuckled and Jamie asked him what was so funny. "There's a cliché for you."

"Prepare yourself, beast." Gadomon growled. His claw began to glow again and he launched himself towards the wolf. The sandman seemed unready for this, and was punished with a metallic claw to its face. When the sand returned to its face, Sandkinmon retaliated by collapsing into the sand. Immediately, a giant wall of sand rose from the desert and began racing towards the tiger digimon. Gadomon stood stationary as the digimon's attack drew closer. Sandkinmon's Sand Wave impacted and engulfed Gadomon. The tamers gasped in horror before they heard Gadomon's battle call. The sand bubbled outwards into the air around them and exploded in all directions.

Then the sand controller began laughing. "Don't you get it? I cannot be defeated!"

"We'll see about that." The boy's tamer threatened. "Gadomon. Silence Breath!"

Gadomon opened his mouth and a large bolt of lightning shot out and struck Sandkinmon. Sandkinmon began to chuckle once again. "What a pitiful... Huh? Wha...? What's happening to me?" His sand grain body began to harden and after a few moments, he was entirely paralyzed. "What is going on? What have you done?"

"Goodbye, Sandkinmon." Gadomon said. A moment later, Sandkinmon was literally petrified. The mystery tamer pulled out an obsidian-black D-Ring and initiated its Encryption Mode. A beam of light shot out and impacted the stone statue that was Sandkinmon. The evil digimon's body exploded like a shell, revealing its data. Soon, the data reconfigured itself into a digiegg and then it disappeared.

The pyramid under them began to quake and it fell from under them. It was as if kicking over a sand castle. Jamie, Kai, and Ariana, along with their digimon fell to the earth below. When they opened their eyes, the mystery tamer approached his partner and shot a beam into the air. Seconds later, the sky opened up and a data stream shot down to the earth. The two strangers stepped into the light and were gone. The tamers arose and surveyed the new landscape. No sandstorms rage anymore and they could see to the horizon in every direction. They noticed towards the north, a small town that was centered on the horizon. They had reached the end of the Dunes.


End file.
